Living in a Time Gone Past
by Kenna Cat
Summary: Alfred F. Jones, the Human Representation of the United States of America. Alfred knew that it was only a matter of time. No one would help you if everybody hates you. That's what he always thought. He never realized that people truly did care. But it was too late now, he had been living in a time gone past. The nations are on a race against time. Objective: Save Alfred. Slight AU.
1. Prologue: Faded Memories

**So school is ending for me… and I have finals coming up. I totally should NOT be working on this.**

**Some head-cannons and AU ideas:**

**- America has been around for a _long_ time, almost as long as China.**

**- America has met Russia's mother, China as a young teenager, Greece's mother, Rome, Germania, and some other nations.**

**- America used to be human.**

**- America, as a nation, is the youngest of four brothers, the Southern United States of America (former Confederate) being the oldest, then Mexico, then Canada.**

**- America is more intelligent than he lets on and he considers everyone as friends and family, even Russia and Afghanistan.**

**- America loves Belarus.**

**- The 2P! World exists in another dimension and it is very hard to connect the two worlds, but it CAN happen.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Vision Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + ****double quotes**

**_Vision Narration - bold + italics_  
**

Narration - Nothing

* * *

_**Prologue: Faded Memories**_

A very, very long time ago, when even China was still a young man, there lived a young Native American man with tan skin, black hair, and brown eyes that shined with his very soul. But what stood out the most was that he was as free as a bird in the vast sky.

He always carried his spear, a gift from his mother.

A very long time ago, he vanished with nothing left behind save a spear and the stains of blood.

A long time ago, there were four brothers. The oldest one continued to live with the Native Americans. The smallest one brought the two middle brothers off to far and distant lands, one north and the other south, since only the smallest one was awake. By the time the two middle brothers awoke, the smallest one was back at his home land.

The youngest brother had pale white skin, dusty golden hair, and eyes as blue and vast as the sky itself. He was later found by two men.

The young man grew, and years passed by. All the while, the young man knew he would disappear one day. After all, his existence was cursed from the beginning. But he was happy… or a least you could say that. He had friends and family… possibly. But he knew one thing for sure, he never regretted his life. At times, he would be sad about the past and regretted some of the past events. Overall, though, he would not change anything at all.

Why? Because it was his life, the things that made him who he was.

The young man stared out the window, saddened by the thought of leaving. In the distance, he could see a familiar old tree. He wished he could go there and watch the world with his friends and family. Sighing, he turned and closed the door to the room. The young man headed down to the kitchen and made some tea and coffee. He walked out to the living room, still slightly messy from the last time his friends would ever play here.

The young man closed his eyes as he felt a presence creep up behind him. Pain hit him and he fell into a world of darkness.

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**Read and Review. Tell me what you think… It would be much appreciated.**

**_-Kenna Cat_**


	2. Chapter One: Beginnings of Younger Days

**Thank You blueorgray1236 and Thestarynight for the reviews. I hope to meet your expectations. Please feel free to correct any mistakes you see.**

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta! I am eternally grateful.**

***Bows on the floor in worship***

**Thank you to those out there for staying with this. Now onto the story!**

**This is the Beta-ed version.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Vision Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + double quotes**

**_Vision Narration - bold + italics_**

Narration – Nothing

* * *

**_Chapter One: Beginnings of Younger Days_**

July 12, 19XX

-America's Point of View-

My name's Alfred F. Jones, the human representation of the United States of America, and the Hero of the world! Ha ha ha ha ha! I have three blood-related brothers, all of who are older than me.

The oldest out of all of us, James M. Jones, is the human representation of the Southern United States of America. Don't EVER call him Susa; he _hates_ it! I learned _that_ the hard way by accident. With dirty brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and midnight blue eyes, he's the tallest of us all at 181 cm, slightly shorter than Иван Брагинский, aka Russia. Big brother James is the only brother who I share the same last name with. I hardly ever see him now. After the ... Civil War, we lost touch with each other. We don't even share letters or call each other. The only time I ever see him is on his birthday, on Canada's, and on Mexico's birthdays. He never comes to _my_ birthdays anymore. That doesn't mean that I won't go to his and give him a birthday present! He just… looks happier with my older brothers, is all.

The second oldest is Diego C. Méndez, the United Mexican States, or Mexico for short. He's got dark brown hair, a tanned complexion, and light hazelnut eyes. He's slightly taller than Canada and I, but still shorter than Big brother James. Big bro Diego _says_ he's 181 cm, but I secretly measured him when he slept over at Canada's house after the birthday party, and last time I checked, he was 179 cm. Don't tell him I told you guys! Ha ha! He ... kind of hates my guts. The reason why I have a half-assed drawing of Mexico and often don't talk to him aren't because of the Alamo. For Pete's sake, I forgave him _years_ ago! I just don't know him that well. He never invites me on tours of his home anymore, pointedly ignores me whenever I go out to eat with him and Canada, and refuses access for me to cross his borders. It's just me because I know he still lets my citizens through. But I always try to get him a meaningful present. I'm not even sure if he keeps my presents that I send to him.

The last of the older brothers is Matthew Williams, the representation of Canada, but I just call him Mattie. Out of all of my three brothers, I feel the closest to him. It's probably because we're twins. He's got wavy hair like France, but with a darker shade of blonde. Unlike popular belief among the nations who think he's shorter than me and has blue eyes, he has light violet eyes and has the same height and build as I do. Since I'm at 177 cm, Mattie's shorter than big bro Diego and big brother James. We have this twin telepathy going on, because I can _always_ feel when he's in any type of pain. Some of his emotions also carry over sometimes, so when he's super happy, I get really hyper. I can always see him, but when Mattie's around other nations, he becomes slightly transparent. I guess that's my fault; I overshadow him a lot. We've been getting into arguments more recently. I guess I'm just a bad baby brother.

* * *

It was already mid-July. Mattie's birthday, as well as my own birthday, had passed by last week.

On his birthday, I came to his house with a neatly wrapped, red and white package with maple leaf decorations covering the top. Inside I had maple syrup I collected myself from trees of Vermont and a hand-made beaver doll. I cut and stabbed my fingers quite a few times making that, but it turned out great! I don't think he knew that it was hand-made though ... but that's all right! A Hero always does awesome stuff for others without compensation!

Several people had come over. France, Iggy (England), Ukraine, Gil (Prussia), Uncle Sweden, and Uncle Finland had arrived before me. Russia later stopped by, along with Belarus, who Russia quickly ran away from. Belarus looked as beautiful as always. Whoops ... getting off topic here! _Anyway,_ Germany dropped off his gift and added his congratulations when he came to pick up Gil. The rest of the Nordics came too, but they only stayed for a bit. Spain, Romano, Italy, Hungary, and Austria had come too, but I didn't really see them a lot. Switzerland came and went with a gruff "Happy Birthday" and a his present: an expensive looking watch.

_'I still can't get the one he gave me all those years ago off! Mattie's looks removable! So unfair!' _I thought, all the while watching Switzerland stalk away.

Japan offered a polite congrats with an awesome looking figurine and a game console. I hoped Canada would allow me to play with him, but even _I_ thought that might be stretching it with the way we had been arguing recently. Big bro Diego came and gave his present and proceeded to coax Mattie into getting drunk, even though it didn't really work out. In the end, Diego just got drunk along with Spain, France, and Prussia. I was too busy trying to prevent Iggy from doing obscene things after his third glass of wine. Mattie looked so happy that so many people came by to wish him happy birthday. I was glad; he had both friends and family.

After everyone but Mexico and I left, big brother James came. Big brother James only comes when no other nations besides Diego, Mattie, and I are around. He stiffly greeted me when I opened the door to which I replied cheerfully. He just gave me a blank stare and a nod before moving further in. When he spotted Mattie and big bro Diego, he smiled warmly. I never get one of those anymore, but I guess I lost that privilege. All I did was smile wistfully at the scene. My older brothers always looked so much happier around each other. I knew Mattie would sense my emotional pain, so I slammed the door on my hand. When Mattie looked over, he just sighed and asked if I needed first aid. I laughed it off, saying that I would be fine. I left soon after that.

Three days later, my birthday came up. I had plans with Denmark and Gil, but something came up and both of them had to cancel. Iggy locked himself up, and France had gone to comfort him. I don't even want to _think_ about _how_ France will do that. He had already forced me through that crazy machine of his for a lifetime, thank you very much! I am _NEVER_ asking France for diet advice _ever_ again. Putting _that_ aside, Lithuania was preoccupied with Russia and Poland, and Japan had family issues because he and China had gotten into an intense argument at Mattie's party. The rest of the Asian family has been trying to ease the tensions between them. I didn't really want to bother Mattie after his birthday, and I know it's useless trying to contact big bro Diego and big brother James. So once again, I was alone on my birthday, just like years before. Since I didn't have anything particular to celebrate all by myself, I went to work in the White House. I got many 'Happy Birthday' remarks from all the workers there, and I watched the fireworks with Mr. President's family. I went back home exhausted from work. No messages or packages were delivered when I got home. My family never wishes me a happy birthday now, but I'm fine! The Hero can't be sad after all! A Hero has to be tough!

But deep down, I know that I'm not _completely_ fine with it.

Today, I awoke to the light of the early morning sunrise. Most nations think I'm a late riser, but I've always gotten up early. I guess it's a force of habit, but I've forgotten who I picked it up from. I walked down to the kitchen, pulling a book from a shelf on the way down. I looked around my home - the house that I built with my own two hands back when I was still a child. I have Uncle Sweden to thank for that; he taught me his awesome building skills. I had some toast, milk, and orange juice. All the while I was reading the book I picked up - a Latin book that I bought recently. I learned other languages of course, but most people seem to think that I only speak English. I mean, _come on_, I'm not _that_ dumb! I don't have an official language besides English, so I just kind of picked up other languages more and more. Only Mattie, big bro Diego, big brother James, and Kiku-kun (Japan) know that I speak more than one language, but they never shared that fact with others.

A few hours later, a rustling noise along with clicking noises started up behind me. I turned around to find Toni, my alien friend typing away on his laptop.

"Hey Toni! What are you doing up this early?" I asked.

"I am researching weather phenomena around various areas in America at various times to compile a report to my boss back on my home planet. He was interested in the different cloud patterns you described on our last road trip through Vermont," Toni replied.

"Dude, give my regards to your boss! Ha ha ha ha ha!" I laughed.

"Okay."

Now, to you guys, this would seem like a regular conversation, but for some reason all the other countries only hear Toni say "Fucking bitch, fucking fucking, fucking limey bitch, fucking" or something like that. I never understood why, but it's possibly because alien incidents always tend to only involve my country.

I felt a something nuzzle against my cheek. I jumped, startled by the sudden contact. When I looked over, nothing was there. But if I looked _really_ close, I could see a faint outline. I brought my hands up and reached out, not feeling only air.

"Clara? Is that you?" I asked, trying to find her back.

I got a neigh and another nuzzle as a response. _'Yes,'_ she responded telepathically. Clara Vita is a unicorn that followed me home one day when I visited England in the fall as a child. When I first felt her nuzzle against me, I totally freaked out. Then, when Halloween came by a few days later, I finally saw her. She was beautiful and pretty big at the time, and almost an adult. I took care of her then, and now she sometimes takes care of me . She's a full-grown adult unicorn now, and is able to travel back to her homeland and talk with others of her kind. She usually hangs around my house.

When Toni saw her though, he started glaring at the empty-looking space next to me. They always seemed to fight for my attention. I don't know why though; I just want everyone to be friends here. On the couch, Amelia, a fluffy white cat, sat next to Americat, who I nicknamed Hero. Hero has a bushy, black mane of fur around his neck, some fur that suspiciously looks like glasses on his face, and a bushy tail. Hero was sleeping lazily on the couch, while Amelia was looking between Toni and Clara. Wilbur, my whale friend, was off swimming in the ocean and playing with his friends. I laughed and looked out the window.

A vision hit me.

* * *

**"Big Brother, what are you doing now?" ****_a young boy asked._**

**"Heh, I just preparing for the hunt [...], and I'll bring lots of meat home for you and [...] and [...] when they wake up."**

**"Do be careful now. I want you home back in one piece after all, [...]," ****_a beautiful women amusedly added in._**

**"Of course!" ****_the big brother replied._**

**_The man looked out over the prairie, the wind gently rustling the grass beneath his feet. The young boy looked worriedly at his big brother. Said big brother merely smiled and ruffled the young boy's hair, watching as the young boy pouted, changing his expression to a smile. _**

**"Do worry so much, [...]! I'll definitely be back!"**

**"Promise?" ****_the young boy asked._**

**"Promise." **

**_With that, the big brother headed toward his horse, ready to go with his brothers to support his tribe._**

* * *

I snapped out of the reverie, clutching my head as I stumbled back a bit. I looked around, seeing no prairie, and no wind. I looked back at Toni, Clara, Amy, and Hero. They didn't seem to notice my stumble as I shook my head. Recently these strange visions have been popping up in my head. I could never hear the names of the people in these dreams, nor could I ever make out a clear picture of them, just colorful blurs and voices in my head.

Whenever I have them, it reminds me a time when I was younger. These dreams shake me, and radiate the same feeling I had during that awful moment when I was young. I remember seeing a _thing_ when I was just a child living in Iggy's house. I couldn't get out, and I felt so _trapped_ as the terrifying black _thing_ came rushing towards me. All I saw were black claws coming toward my face. Everything went dark after that.

There are times when I feel that the memory of what happened after still resides in my mind, but I can't remember it.

When I came to my senses, I had awoken to a black and white world covered in scribbles. They were horrible, black scribbles, just like that _thing_. At first I thought they would go away, but they stayed for days ... then months ... then years. Every time I reached out to touch them, the scribbles would burst into some demonic form and inflict pain. When I pulled away, there were no scars; it was just ... nothing. Only a lingering pain would be left. England wouldn't come back for another few years, so I couldn't ask him about at the time. I became afraid of everything, locking myself up in my room.

I learned two things during that time. The first: the lines I saw would crunch up together into black and white demon-like figures if the lines were not disturbed. Those could be killed, and the scribbles would disappear. The second was that I could turn off the power.

Slowly I learned how to turn the cursed sight off. Whenever I would use this power, my eyes would turn into a scribbled out black - something I wanted no one to see. I gradually forced the power down, and my eyes returned to their normal, sky blue color. While I looked like my usual self again, the power never left me. Now I can call upon and stop it freely; it's kind of like that eye thing in that ninja manga Kiku-kun gave me. I think it's N****o or something like that.

During that time, I realized I no longer had the 'Sight', meaning I could never see England's friends again. I remember crying a lot because of that. Well now I know that thought wasn't entirely true since I still have the 'Sight' on Halloween, but I didn't know that back then. I could still see the spirits of my natives though.

I use the power from time to time, though I never really liked using it. I called the power 'Lines', but I never knew what to call it really.

After turning on 'Lines', the first thing I noticed was that a small part of my house burst into scribbles. It was nothing too big, just the size of an average backpack, but I couldn't find a figure within the mess.

Where was the figure?

I quickly turned away. Turning 'Lines' off, I watched as the world filled with color again. As I was looking out the window, the sun looked like it was around noon. Turning back toward my friends, I announced that I would be making lunch. Toni and Clara stopped their glaring contest and looked up with excitement. Hero immediately woke up and started jumping on the couch, while Amelia just looked at Hero with a smile. As I walked to the kitchen, I couldn't shake off the feeling of apprehension. Something bad was starting to happen.

There was _always_ a black figure within the lines.

* * *

**Wow that took a long time ... and it's only 2,600+ words ... Hard to imagine that this took four pages of size ten font in Calibri. I must be imagining things. **

**Still, Three Favs, Five Follows, and Two Reviews? I must be dreaming, right? There no possible way I could have that much support, right? After all, this isn't really a great fan fiction, nor do I have great grammar. Did I mention that my storytelling sucks? And that I suck at action scenes? Still, Thank you so much to ALL of you readers out there. **

**You make a writer feel so much happier to know that his story has some interest in it. **

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and remark on any mistakes I made ... It would be much appreciated.**

**_-Kenna Cat_**


	3. Chapter Two: Restlessness

**Thank you everyone for the support! I ****_never_**** expected to have any reviews to this pathetic story of mine.**

**It has been brought to my attention that some readers do not know what the figures are. I will explain more of what they represent in the next few chapters.**

**Thanks to MindMaster, blueorgray1236, Thestarynight, Panda97 and rookanga for your support. I really don't deserve such kindness … I really don't.**

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta! I am eternally grateful!**

**This is the Beta-ed version.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Vision Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + double quotes**

**_Vision Narration - bold + italics_**

Narration – Nothing

* * *

**_Chapter Two: Restlessness_**

August 21, 19XX

_A few years later ..._

-America's Point of View-

It was in the afternoon on a hot, summer day. I was wearing some lighter clothes, yet I still found myself sweating profusely. I was only wearing some shorts and a T-shirt with a thin jacket tied around my waist! God, why'd it have to be so hot?!

Anyway, I was in my guest room cleaning up some stuff. I felt a bit better today, and I decided to clean up this room again to make it presentable. The Great Depression hit a few years back, and then everything went downhill from there. After, I was summoned to a World Meeting, tons of nations berated me for causing all of these problems to happen. It's a consequence of being the Hero, I guess. Everyone blames you for their problems. I mean _sure_, part of the situation the world was in was kind of my fault, but I didn't single-handedly cause the world's problems, you know? So now I'm pinned with causing a worldwide depression and pretty much everyone hates me. It's the story of my life, I guess.

After the meeting, Toris (Lithuania) went back with Russia. When he first started working here, he was so surprised that I could speak, read, listen, and write almost all the languages in the world. Especially since I spoke them fluently! In fact, I'm still learning other languages. Guess I have to add him to the list of 'People-Who-Know-I-Can-Speak-Many-Languages'.

Toris was in such a rush to get out of my house with Russia there threatening to beat him to a bloody pulp with his pipe that he left the guest room in a mess, though there are signs of him trying clean it up a bit. There's some folded clothes here and there, opened curtains on that side of the room, and closed drawers for one of the closets on the other side. That doesn't mean that the room was clean though. It was still a disheveled mess, but people think _I'm_ a slob. I like my house and stuff to stay as clean as possible! Why is it that people think I'm a mess? Is it because of my personality?

But I digressed.

Soon after Toris left, my health started to plummet. All the stress from my government, my citizens, the world, and other stuff started to get to me. For about a year after Toris left, I went into a coma. Toni and Mr. President were able to keep the fact that I was down a secret, and prevented the other nations from knowing anything. This didn't mean that I was spic-and-span after that, though. I was so out of it when I came back to the world of the living! I was often bed-ridden, and Toni and Clara had to take turns in helping me get back on my feet. Hero always went out and bought groceries (_'I still haven't figured out how he does that!'_), and Amelia made sure everything was clean by asking some the native spirits to help clean the house along with Scotland's fae.

By the time I managed to stand up without falling face-first into the ground, Japan had already invaded Manchuria. I was still swaying on my feet a lot at the time, but I wanted to know what was going on with Kiku-kun (Japan). He was (and still is) one of my precious friends. He always agrees with me and he never really scolded me at the last World Meeting. All he said was that I was a bit young and inexperienced; he at least seemed to care about my feelings. However, I never would have thought he'd be the type to invade others, you know? He was so shy when I first met him at his house. I tried contacting him, but ... I never got through. To this day, he still hasn't responded.

Today's one of my better days. Some days, I can't even wake up. Those are the worst because I worry the heck out of Toni, Clara, Amelia, Hero, and Wilbur. Most days, I have to walk with a crutch, or I'll sway too much and fall over. Either I'll pass out after that, or I'll be in immense pain, which would mean that I could be found lying on the ground for a couple of hours before I can attempt to get up again.

Some days are like today, where I can do light work, like slowly cleaning a room. It;s basically doing simple stuff ... you know ... like something relaxing. So here I am, cleaning up my guest room again. Clara's outside grazing on the grass and enjoying the weather outside in my garden. Toni has been playing video games all day today, trying to make up for all the time he lost taking care of me. Right now, Hero's watching over me, making sure I don't pass out or anything. Amelia went to take a nap and Wilbur is watching Toni play all sorts of games.

Over the years a lot of events have happened. China is going through a major civil war, with the Communist Party of China against the Nationalist Party called the Kuomintang. As a result, China's been having split-personality disorder. On top of that, the argument between China and Japan that started since Mattie's birthday _still_ hasn't been resolved. In fact, it escalated! When China found out that Japan had sent assassins to kill some war lord from Northeast China (a place called Manchuria) Yào, aka China, was furious! Tensions between Kiku-kun and Yào have risen to the point that the rest of the Asian family has stopped trying to ease the tension out of fear. Yào has been so cranky that he practically yells at everything. No one has bothered to stop him. Everyone's got their own problems right now.

Europe's been a mess since the Great Depression started, and the people over there have been starting to get restless. Alliances on top of alliances have been forming, one after the other. My government has refrained from getting too involved. Right now, my people don't want to be involved overseas. With the way things are in America, I can't really say I blame them, considering I can't stand properly most of the time!

France and Belgium tried to get the Ruhr area so that they could force Germany to make reparations for the Great War, but when the Great Depression hit, all attempts on _that_ idea stopped. Speaking of Germany, I haven't heard much about him recently. Mr. President and some of the workers from the White House have always kept me up-to-date with the news, but I haven't heard much (if they do say anything) about Germany.

_'I wonder what he's doing right now. I hope he's doing better since the Great War ended. I couldn't help him much; France and England were too focused on revenge and compensation rather than lasting peace.'_ I thought while picking up a tossed-over lamp.

The Great War was something I never wanted to go through again. I'll have to leave that particular bit of history for another day. I'm still not up to the point where I could go through those memories without causing anxiety attacks and emotional pain. Just hearing the words 'Stock Market', 'crash', 'economy', and 'Black Tuesday' are enough to make me cringe. I just want to curl up in a ball and whimper when I think about the state my economy and government are in.

Russia, the annoying bastard, had recently been having changes in political leaders. This guy named Joseph Stalin took over, and contact between Russia and I have almost been completely cut off. He was such an asshole _before_ the Stock Market Crash of 1929, saying things like "Oh, I'm not buying anything from you … cuz I'm _Socialist_" and other horribly carefree stuff like that. He didn't exactly help much in the following World Meeting either. We used to be friends, too! I wondered what happened to break that bond. All I know is that he's been making alliances with his siblings (_'I hope Belarus is all right...'_) and the Baltics.

Iggy let go of Saudi Arabia, letting Saudi Arabia finally have his independence. I think he really regretted that decision when the Stock Market crashed. After the meeting, he ranted on and on about how he was going to kick my 'bloody arse' and how he 'should have kept Saudi Arabia, and then he wouldn't be in this bloody mess!' Basically stuff like that; I think he went and got drunk after that. During the time I was in my coma, Mr. President signed the London Naval Treaty with Iggy, Italy, and Kiku-kun. It's something about regulating naval warfare and shipbuilding or something. My memory has been a bit fuzzy these days, so it's hard to keep track sometimes. I haven't heard from Iggy much, but every time I do, he always scolds be for being overzealous. I wonder when he'll say something else for once.

After Japan invaded Manchuria, Mr. President and I agreed to pass the Stimson Doctrine. We wanted to stop Japan from taking more territories. I didn't want Kiku-kun to get hurt! Empires were never a good thing. Rome had one, but his empire fell, and he went back home where Mother Earth, Terra, resides. The Ottoman Empire fell too, after several wars, and Turkey has the scars to prove it. Iggy has never been the same since I broke away from his empire. Even I had my fair share of battles when I tried to gain more land and tried to keep the union together. I just didn't want Kiku-kun to have to go through all of that. I really hope he heeds my warning.

Picking up a blank notebook from the ground, I suddenly froze as a cold chill quickly ran up my spine. Turning on 'Lines', I quickly turned around to see the bed completely covered in scribbles. My vision seemed to be drawn towards them because the next thing I knew, the scribbles had crowded out my vision.

When I could see clearly again, I knew I was having another dream.

* * *

**_The big brother was standing as tall as he could in front of the tribe, a few of his fellow tribal brothers stood next to him. The big brother was dressed elaborately, wearing some of the finest animal hides and the most precious beads dangling on strings that were swaying with the wind. He was wearing a simple, yet complex headdress made from the feathers of the Blue Hawk. The beautiful woman had spent months making it. His face was painted with unique patterns - patterns that were only painted once in a lifetime._**

**_The beautiful woman beamed with pride from the crowd. The young boy was hiding behind the woman's leg, watching in awe at the scene._**

**_In the beautiful women's arms, two infants wrapped up in blankets were sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world around them. One infant had a pale complexion with slightly wavy hair. The other infant had tanned skin and somewhat long, shaggy hair with some of it tied in a ponytail. _**

**_The crowd was chattering and looking excited about what would happen next. The fathers of the chosen looked proudly on and their mothers sang songs of joy and wisdom. Suddenly, a silence fell over the crowd. A tall, wise, and elderly man, who was the Chief, tapped his staff on the ground. The auspicious event was about to commence._**

**_The Chief stepped forward. Raising his hands, he prayed to the spirits. _****_Then, in a booming voice, he yelled to the sky _****"Spirits, watch over these young boys! Today, they are no longer young boys, but hunters! Men! Let them show you their spirit! For today is the Coming-of-Age!"**

**_Cheers shot up in the crowd. The Chief waited a bit before continuing. _**

**"These young boys have fulfilled the requirements to become men! Oh spirits, show us now! Are any of these young boys unworthy of becoming a true part of this tribe? Are any unworthy to be called _men_?!"**

**_Only a gentle breeze blew through the plains, washing over the people of the tribe. There were no objections from the Spirits. The young men standing in front visibly relaxed, glad that none of them would be held back. _**

**"Then Spirits, watch over them as these men battle each other, showing their warrior spirit in a friendly spar between brothers!" _he bellowed with a smile forming on his face. He turned toward the crowd and the young men._ "Then let the Coming-of-Age spar begin!" **

**_Thunderous cheers echoed throughput the plains. It was a joyous moment for all. The big brother looked over at his fellow brothers, then to the crowd. He couldn't deny that he was rather nervous about the whole thing. He didn't want to hurt any of his brothers. But nonetheless, he was immensely happy. He locked eyes with the beautiful women, his mother, and smiled brightly. He cheered loudly, eliciting excited yells from his fellow brothers in front. With that, the Chief began to explain the rules._**

* * *

When I came out of the reverie, I couldn't catch my balance fast enough. 'Lines' had immediately turned off right after the vision. Falling forward, I braced myself for an impact. What I actually hit wasn't the hard wooden floor of the room, but rather Hero, who was squirming around and trying to get out from under me. Hero had prevented my fall, instantly knowing something was wrong. I got up as quickly as possible, noticing that Hero seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when I got off him.

He started pounding his paw on the floor, asking me to sit down. I complied and he quickly ran out of the room, probably to go call Toni or Clara. He'll most likely call Clara, since she can carry me, then Toni because he knows which medicines do what.

My head was slightly spinning, and my ears were definitely ringing. I've only had a few visions hit me since my birthday a few years ago. All of them were short, and usually about hunting, but they had progressively become more real. The voices were louder, and the color was becoming more defined. Faces were now slightly coming into focus, and some objects had names I never heard of before. I wondered why I was having these visions. Was I forgetting something from long ago?

I had to check the bed again. I turned on 'Lines', expecting a large, demonic figure forming within the scribbles. What I saw was _completely_ different from what I expected. There was only a small, baseball-sized scribble that was latched onto one of the sides of the headrest. Just like the scribbles in the corner of my living room, it wasn't anything big. The ones in my living room hadn't changed in size all this time. However, there still was no figure within the lines. These scribbles didn't have any figure forming either, and I _really_ didn't want to go over and touch the lines to induce a demonic figure to form. Killing induced figures don't even make the scribbles disappear! At least these scribbles don't grow in size. That's a cause for relief, if I do say so myself.

I guess I was more exhausted than I thought because black fog crawled around the edges of my vision. I was forced to turn off 'Lines' again as I slumped against the wall. Sleep started to grip me, and my vision was starting to blur. I saw Hero running in and some clopping noises enter the room. Feeling Clara nuzzle against me, I felt her pick me up and place me on her back. Toni entered soon after, followed by Amelia. I heard Wilbur moan in concern downstairs.

I never knew what to call the sounds he makes. Sometimes, I just call it 'whaling' because it was a pun on 'wailing'. When I first mentioned it to Wilbur to see if he would be okay with it, he seemed to laugh and told me that it was okay to use the word.

I was glad my friends were here and that they were helping me through this. Yet, I also felt sorrow. My family didn't ask to see if I was okay or not after the Stock Market Crash. Big bro Diego just scolded me for my supposed carelessness, and big brother James continued to avoid me. Mattie went on another two-hour rant that put me on the verge of tears, and caused me to feel like a sobbing mess inside. Iggy and France were too busy with their own economic depressions to do anything.

I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I kept blinking, trying to will the sleep away until I felt soft fabric curl up around my back, and an equally soft blanket cover me on top. Pity, today had been such a great day too ... I wish Mattie was here ... to at least ... say ... good night ...

* * *

**_The big brother prepared himself. He was sparring against his best friend, and he knew he couldn't take it easy. They stared at each other, mentally willing themselves to fight. A leaf flew by with the wind, floating between the two men. When the wind died down, the best friend began to speak._**

**To be continued ...**

* * *

**Cut! This is the end of the chapter... **

**This took a bit longer with 2800+ words and with the college night labs I had to go through, but I still got it done! Thank you for being patient with me...**

**Seven Reviews? The review counter must be broken ... right? There's no possible way. I won't believe it!**

**Thank you so much to ALL of you readers out there!**

**You make a this author motivated to continue his story.**

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and remark on any mistakes I made ... Anything would be much appreciated!**

**_-Kenna Cat_**


	4. Chapter Three: Walls Coming Down

**Thank you to all the readers for your support! The review counter must be exaggerating again ... because I'm pretty sure I don't have that many reviews for this pitiful story of mine ... I'm sorry for the slightly short chapters, I can't write that fast in one day ...**

**Thanks to EliteKessu, lion5589, sweetoreo33, blurorgray1236, Panda97, and Serisa Black for your reviews! Don't worry about dying; I'll definitely update this story!**

**Trying to keep the schedule of updating once per day! (Except for Finals Week, I'll give you a heads up when that trucker rolls around) If I can't keep up, I will be able to update once every two to three days. Research isn't easy you know ...**

**This is the Beta-ed version.**

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta!**

**Warning: This chapter will contain foreign words not in English. They have been PURPOSELY left un-translated for this chapter. Readers are welcome to translate them for themselves, but you do not need to know the meanings of the words. Thank you for your understanding.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Flashback Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + double quotes**

_**Flashback Narration - bold + italics**_

Narration – Nothing

* * *

_Previously on "Living in a Time Gone Past":_

_**The big brother prepared himself. He was sparring against his best friend, and he knew he couldn't take it easy. They stared at each other, mentally willing themselves to fight. A leaf flew by with the wind, floating between the two men. When the wind died down, the best friend began to speak.**_

* * *

_**Chapter Three: Walls Coming Down**_

Early September, 19XX

_**The big brother knew he was never normal. His mother and his little brothers were different from the rest of the tribe, too. His mother had once said that she never aged anymore, and neither did any of his younger brothers, even though many Ghąąj****į́**__**' had passed. The beautiful woman never truly explained the whole concept to him.**_

_**His mother and his brothers were what his tribe called Kéyah. They were the ones closest to nature. They could feel what the land had to offer, and understood what the consequences of our actions did on the land better than anyone. Sometimes, when the land was scarred, his mother would also be wounded. This had often worried the big brother and the young boy.**_

_**Yet ... the big brother was not a **_**_Kéyah_**_**. It was true that he could feel the land around him, and he felt more at peace with nature than his fellow tribal brothers. He simply did not share that physical connection his mother shared with the land. The big brother could only feel the lingering pain, and not only that, he was still aging, just slower than the rest of his tribe. He looked half as young as his true age, but he never stooped aging completely.**_

_**His mother looked younger than he did now.**_

_**At times, the big brother felt like an outsider. It was like he was caught between two sides, each side pulling harder and harder for him to come over. It was tearing the big brother apart. Days like those left him feeling very lonely, but his tribal brothers and sisters had always come to help him through it. The beautiful woman and the young boy would play games with the big brother to cheer him up. Everyone was a family there.**_

_**His mother had explained it all one day, a few moons before the Coming-of-Age. The big brother was different from all of them.**_

_**There was once a young girl, she had explained. When she had first awoken, she could not find her parents. One day, an old chief had found her, and he raised her like a daughter. At the time, she had not known she was different from the rest of her tribe. She eventually grew into a beautiful woman and was expected to marry the son of the chief from the neighboring tribe. The chief's son had tanned skin, night sky eyes, and smooth, black hair with hands rough from hunting. She had loved the young man and he loved her; all was perfect.**_

_**But misfortune would soon befall the young man's tribe. While the young man stayed with the beautiful women's tribe, his tribe had encountered men with skin as pale as the color of the cores of trees. Word came by a few weeks later - his tribe had caught a strange bididoolnah, which killed them all within weeks.**_

_**The young man could only mourn the loss of his family as he continued to live with the beautiful woman's tribe. However, as many Ghąąj****į́**__**' passed, both the young man and beautiful woman had noticed that she did not age. They went to the Hastiin, seeking answers. The Hastiin told the two that the beautiful woman was the land, a Kéyah. In short, she was human, yet not at the same time.**_

_**The young man did not mind though and lived together with the woman's tribe. The young man had grown into a man then. They had one child, a boy whose spirit seemed so free. They knew he would go far. They brought the young child to the Hastiin, wondering if the child too was **__**a Kéyah**_. When the man and the beautiful woman heard that the boy was not a Kéyah, they were relieved. However, the Hastiin warned that the young boy would be different from the rest of the tribe.

_**Soon, the man had aged greatly, passing on and joining the Spirits of the ancestors. This left the beautiful woman to raise the young child by herself. As the young child grew, his mother had mysteriously appeared with another toddler. Later, two more infants had joined as well, always sleeping continuously. And slowly, the young child had become the big brother.**_

* * *

_**Looking back toward his best friend, the big brother gave him his full attention. The crowd around them was silent, watching the spar between the two strongest of the young men **__**with anticipation**__**. It was customary to exchange words between fellow tribal brothers before a spar, but before he had a best friend, he had a rival.**_

_**As a half **_**_Kéyah_**_** and half human, he had more strength than others of his tribe. His rival wanted greatly to surpass the big brother in terms of strength. The rival has trained night and day for many moons. Many times the rival would try to show off his strength, often getting him in trouble with the others of the tribe. On one hunt, both the rival and the big brother had gotten lost. That day, the rival had nearly died, but the big brother had protected him from the pack of mą'ii. After that, the rival had become the best friend.**_

_**They had trained together, worked together, and became partners.**_

_**But now, it was time to spar.**_

"**'Atsá Sh****į́** wódahgo dah siz**į́**įgo yiiłtsą," _**he spoke.**_

"**Hai Chizh 'ahizhdiłne'go bee hatsxe' jileeh," **_**the big brother replied.**_

_**The fight began.**_

_**The big brother charged, gripping his spear tightly with his hands. He jumped, the sky against his back, and aimed for his best friends animal hides. The best friend rolled out of the way, brandishing his twin knives. Upon landing, the big brother created a small crater in the ground with his spear. He looked up, and ducked just as his best friend's knife passed over the his head. The best friend began swiping away at the big brother. In response, the big brother defended himself with the spear, creating 'thonk' noises throughout the clearing.**_

_**The big brother wanted to swipe at his best friend's legs. Crouching down, the big brother tried kicking out the legs beneath his best friend. His best friend jumped high into the air and the spear passed harmlessly under the best friend's legs. Mustering all the strength he could, the best friend threw a knife toward the big brother. Unable to dodge due to the sweep, the big brother could do nothing but watch as the knife snagged his animal hides, pinning him to the ground.**_

_**The best friend came crashing down above the big brother. The young boy behind the mother couldn't watch anymore. The young boy didn't want to see his big brother to get hurt, and didn't want his big brother to lose! But the young boy couldn't go over there and free his big brother. So the young boy did the only thing he could: he shouted.**_

"**Sh****į́** Wódah Atsá!"

* * *

I woke with a start and was drenched in sweat. A loud cat noise made itself known next to me. Hero and Amelia were looking up at me with concern. Hero jumped up beside me, rubbing his head against my arm. Slowly, I felt the tension leave me. I hadn't realized that I had tensed up during my sleep, but having my friends next to me slightly calmed me down.

This was the longest vision I ever had. Strange words were starting to replace speech, and more objects had names I couldn't identify. What stood out the most this time though was the phrase at the end. _Shį́ Wódah Atsá_. Just _why_ did the phrase feel so _familiar_? I could feel that pride and sadness were attached to that phrase, but I couldn't understand why. I was fairly deep in thought, and my silence was starting to worry Amelia and Hero. I didn't realize that my face was progressively looking more and more pensive, so Hero did the only thing he could think of. He jumped up and crashed into my face to cuddle the heck of it. It was so sudden that my train of thought pretty much stopped right then and there. All the tension left me, and for the first time in months, I laughed.

My laughter echoed through the house. There were crashing noises outside of the room, and Toni stood at the entrance, slamming the door open. I smiled at him, and he looked ready to cry; well, if aliens could cry, that is. I was still hearing crashing sounds, so I was wondering what was going on, when Toni suddenly seemed to get rammed by an invisible force. Knowing that it was Clara, I expected to hear her rushing in. Instead it seemed inertia was too much for her to stop, and she crashed into Toni and slid down the hall, leaving marks on the floor.

'_Great. Now I'm going to have to clean that up later. Or, I could just replace the floor boards all together. Glad I didn't go with carpet; that would have been a pain in the ass to fix. Hope Toni and Clara are okay,' _I thought, wincing as I heard a thud from down the hall.

Looking back at the entrance to the room, I could see flippers slowly appearing into view. Wilbur was dragging himself (and the small pool he travels around in) up the ramp I had built especially for him. Back when elevators were not mass-produced yet and Wilbur was having trouble getting up the stairs, I completely remodeled the left side of my house to build several ramps. Sometimes I catch Clara and Toni riding the ramps down on wheelie chairs and having fun, so I just left the ramps alone instead of demolishing them. I still have an elevator though, since this _is_ a four-story house, complete with an attic and basement. Once upon a time, this house was completely filled with people.

With a four story house, you would think it would be a hassle to clean. I have Uncle Scotland to thank for making my job a thousand times easier. When I was small, Uncle Scotland said he brought some fae over that would stay with me forever. I can't see them anymore, just like England's fae and unicorns. When I was small and could see them, I asked them if they could help clean the house. They had agreed and have been keeping the house in good shape since. On rare instances, I still ask them just to make sure they were fine with doing the job. On Halloween, I see them having fun with other fae hanging around that day. I always thank them when I see them and tell them that they don't have to work so hard all the time.

When Wilbur finally made it to the door, he 'whaled' at me, happy to see me up. I later found out that I had been asleep for roughly a month, worrying the heck out of my friends, Mr. President, his family, and the workers of the White House. Thankfully during that time, no meetings were scheduled, and no one had tried to contact me. That also meant that the nations of the world were still furious at me, so I guess not everything's completely great yet.

I looked around, taking in my surroundings. Clara had moved me to my room after I collapsed. Light was gently pouring through the window, lighting up the room. Tangerine orange walls contrasted with seawater blue edges and cerulean blue trims. Closets and various decorations littered the room. Then, add in a few of my more personal stuff (and my eccentric friends) and voilà! My room is complete! The sun outside the window indicated that it was around three, which made it too late for lunch, and too early for dinner. Out in the distance, a small cliff could be seen. A tree decorated with various colors of flowers stood tall about fifty feet from the edge, leaving plenty of space for a large picnic area. It was a special tree, and the reason why I had built my house here.

Hero had disappeared during the whole fiasco. Toni and Clara seemed to restart their glaring contest, and poor Amelia just sighed. Wilbur just looked amusedly at the whole scene, probably just enjoying the familiar atmosphere of it all. Hero suddenly appeared by the door, carrying a loaf of bread on his back. Upon seeing the bread, I heard my stomach grumble loudly. That had caused Amelia to look up at me, then towards Hero. I hadn't realized how completely famished I was!

When Hero came over, I smiled gratefully, taking the bag of bread and opening it quickly. I continued to watch Toni and Clara bicker about how Clara shouldn't be so careless, and how Toni shouldn't have stopped so suddenly. Watching those two really reminded me of England and France sometimes; God, I really missed them. Now that I think about it, all of my friends seemed to reflect the people of my family. Clara was like England and Toni was like France, especially whenever they got into fights. Amelia was like the polite Canada, watching the other members of our family and trying to think of ways to calm everyone down. Hero was like big bro Diego - energetic at times, but always knowing what's necessary, and the most effective way to get it done. Hero was like me in some ways too, loving-any-type-of-music-from-around-the-world way, and being extremely sociable. Finally, Wilbur was like big brother James, smiling at the whole family and keeping quiet, not bothering to help change anything.

There used to be a time when my real family was like that; it was back when I was still a colony. Now, I have my new family, with friends that I would never give up, and will always protect. I knew that no matter what, they would always stick by me, and I would always be there for them too. Especially now, with the Great Depression and the visions plaguing me, I know that Toni, Clara, Wilbur, Amelia, and Hero would help me get through all of this shit.

I pushed aside my thoughts of the dream for later. Right now, all I really wanted to do was to enjoy my home with my friends. Laughing in joy, I engaged in an excited conversation with Toni about the games he played, and made polite conversation about the weather and how the garden was doing with Clara.

I hoped that I would survive the next few years, and as I looked back at my new family, I knew I would definitely make it through. They would be there to make sure of it!

Outside the window, on the distant hill, I didn't see that a single flower on the colorful tree had turned completely black, nor did I see how it fell off the tree and landed on the ground, killing the surrounding grass.

Death was coming.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading this far! Please wait in anticipation for the fourth Chapter of "Living in a Time Gone Past"! For those of you who understand the language, please correct me if I am wrong, and please bear with me for the typing errors. did not accept the font I used to type the language!**

**Update: Chapters One and Two have now been Beta-ed. Please enjoy the corrected grammar and mistakes and such! Thank you Itaneko-chan for your wonderful work!**

**Sorry for the slightly shorter Chapter. This one was only 2400+ words, but this was mostly a continuation of Chapter Two.**

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and/or remark on any mistakes I made ... Anything would be much appreciated!**

**- Kenna Cat**


	5. Chapter Four: Tumbling Down, Down & Down

**Thank you all for being patient with me! This chapter took much research and covered several years. On top of that, I had a volunteer event that took a chunk out of my writing time. I was helping my local food bank in packaging food for impoverished families. **

**Since I took so long, I present to you a very long chapter! This actually took 4,300+ words! **

**Thank you blueorgray1236, Ms. AJ Ninja, Starfire67, Panda97, BrOwNiEfOx, and narusasuforever1 for your reviews! I feel like I don't deserve your praise. To me, my writing skills are dismal. I have ****Itaneko-chan to thank for correcting any grammar mistakes I have. Therefore, please bear with me and my writing!**

**This is the Beta-ed version. **

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta!**

**Warning: This chapter will contain foreign words not in English. Some of them have been PURPOSELY left un-translated for this chapter. Readers are welcome to translate them for themselves, but you do not need to know the meanings of the words. Thank you for your understanding.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Flashback Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + ****double quotes**

_**Flashback Narration - bold + italics**_

Narration – Nothing

[Translations] - Brackets

* * *

**_Chapter Four: Tumbling Down, Down & Down_**

June 22, 19XX

_7 years later ..._

- America's Point of View –

Finally, I got a _ton_ of news about the happenings of the elusive Germany! Ha ha ha ha! I totally sound like one of those tour guides when spot a rare creature.

_'Here we see the highly elusive German residing in his natural habitat. Notice how he interacts with others of his kind. His facial muscles are relaxed, yet stern as he seems to discuss the ever-growing problems of the world. What in the world could this fine specimen of the Germans be thinking of as he talks to other members of his species?'_ I narrated.

It's been a relatively short time since I had passed out in the guest room (at least to a nation); to normal humans though, seven years is a long time. I had a new Mr. President called Mr. Hoover, to whom much of my citizens were dissatisfied with. My citizens had made degrading jokes and political comics criticizing my previous boss's lack of effectiveness in tackling the economic depression. Mr. Hoover's measures were what my citizens retorted as 'too little too late'. However, I couldn't really blame him. As a Republican, he didn't want the government to become overly involved in helping individuals who were dealing with economic troubles.

The moment my new boss stepped into office though, he implemented his 'New Deal' policies, dealing with many groups and industries that needed help for economic survival. He pushed the Congress to create various programs would be aimed to help industries affected most by the Depression. He reformed the nation and initiated the path to recovery. But that wasn't what really matter to me.

Mr. President _truly_ cared about my health as a fellow human. Although he knew that my health was directly related to the state of my country, he didn't care about that. He saw me as any other human who was desperately in need of medical assistance. He always asked how I felt, if I was doing all right, and if I could stand properly that day. It was the simple things like that. He really reminded me of the Founding Fathers and Mr. G. Washington; they treated me like a son, and that has always struck a chord with me.

When Mr. President came into office, I could barely stay awake. Then, Mr. Hoover introduced me to my new boss when I seriously was on the verge of going through _another_ coma. I think just seeing the state I was in was enough for the man who would be Mr. President to take immediate action.

His first hundred days in office literally changed everything, and almost guaranteed his position in office for the next election. Mr. President focused on Relief, Recovery, and Reform. It was Relief for the unemployed and the poor, the Recovery of the economy, and the Reform of the financial system to prevent repeat depressions. The day after he was inaugurated, he declared a 'bank holiday', where he closed down all banks indefinitely. After analyzing the banks, Mr. President reopened the soundest banks a little over a week. The day after, deposits had finally exceeded withdrawals. It was a joyous moment for the whole nation!

The Congress was pretty desperate at the time, too. They pretty much let Mr. President do anything he wanted to help boost the economy. The Emergency Banking Bill was passed little debate, and strengthened the reopened banks. The 'bank holiday' event alone convinced much of the Congress and the public to view the New Deals as the correct path to take. Mr. President sent Congress tons of bills, all of which passed easily and created new programs with new job opportunities. He first focused on immediate relief, then long-lasting reform through reorganization and creation of new agencies. His quick reforms were enough to give me enough energy to at least stand again ... with lots of swaying ... that is.

He became really popular with the public too! He really connected with them when he gave his 'fireside chats'. Mr. President gave several radio addresses that facilitated intimate and direct communication between the president and my citizens. He really boosted morale among my people.

Mr. President created several new programs, like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that hired three million workers, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that provided electricity to depressed area, and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that created Public Works Administration to provide aid to cities for construction and the National Recovery Administration to help businesses. Works Progress Administration (WPA) hired tons of people for various projects, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) corrected the abuses which led to the stock market crash. Lastly, the Social Security Act created the Social Security System. There were a bunch of other programs, but I was still too weak to fully remember all of them, and what they did.

The next year, the economy finally turned around. Uncle Sweden recovered from the Great Depression, and my country was finally on the same road. During the next few years, the Supreme Court declared some of the programs unconstitutional, and Mr. President had lost some of his power over the Congress. Germany recovered after Sweden through heavy deficit spending to prepare for his war. Then, England recovered with pretty much the same reason as Germany.

Mr. President never really liked heavy deficit spending and rejected Mr. Keynes' advice to begin it. Mr. President was always focused on having a balanced budget. As the economic recovery continued, I slowly regained back my health and started getting more involved in my government's actions again. When I first came back to work, I really worried the heck of the White House workers, Mr. President, and his family. Toni and my friends were concerned about over-working myself, and Mattie and big bro Diego wanted me to rest a bit more. There was one summer where another recession hit when Mr. President cut back on spending, but I recently recovered from it. I almost gave him a heart attack when I suddenly collapsed to the floor of the Oval Office that June. Still, my boss did a phenomenal job in recovery and relief.

He really saved my country when it really needed it the most.

* * *

While I was progressively getting better, though, not everything was fine and dandy on the other sides of the great oceans. Across the Atlantic, Germany had gone through intense political changes.

_'Getting this bit of info was hard enough! It took a plane crash, handmade boats on some no-name island, lots of blending in, a stern, German friend/teacher, some Frankfurter Würstchen _[sausage],_ and chocolate to sneak in one of our spies into Germany to get the required intelligence, and then a news reporter, a journalist, tomatoes and potatoes, and a private jet just to get him back! The spy vowed never to return to Germany until he was _absolutely _sure__ that it was visitor-friendly again,'_ I recalled, looking out the window of the White House and staring at the vast garden in front. A bunch of young kids were out on the field playing tag, laughing, and having fun in general. The Secret Service guards who weren't on duty were there to make sure the kids didn't overly hurt themselves. I was glad my government was still functioning, unlike in the one in Germany several years ago.

Since a little over a decade ago, an Austrian man named Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the German government in an event called Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch [Beer Hall Putsch] in Munich, Germany. This failed spectacularly, and Adolf Hitler was sent to Landsberg Prison in Landsberg am Lech. Apparently he wrote an autobiography there called _Mein Kampf_. The spy told me it was an interesting book, but I haven't read it yet. I plan to do so later, but not right now. Anyway, later that year, France pulled his troops out of Germany. Then Germany and Russia, now dubbed the Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)], signed the Treaty of Berlin. Basically, the treaty allowed either country to remain neutral if either of them were to be attacked by another nation.

In the few years afterward, China and Japan's family issues skyrocketed when Kiku-kun sent those assassins. As an attempt to prevent aggressive warfare between countries, the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy (thankfully shortened as the Kellogg-Briand Pact) was signed in Paris by Germany, Mattie, François (France), Iggy, Mr. President, and some other countries. The treaty stated that nations who signed it wouldn't use war to resolve conflicts/disputes for whatever reason. It was aimed to prevent the use of force of any nation against others.

A few years passed by, and by then, Hitler was out of jail again his German citizenship. Germany got a new boss called Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (_'What a mouthful!'_), who elected Kurt Von Schleicher as the German Chancellor. Schleicher was assassinated two years later by Hitler who had replaced him the previous year. Anyway, Hindenburg issued the Reichstagsbrandverordnung [Reichstag Fire Decree] that pretty much nullified all the civil liberties of the citizens. Then Hitler came into power, and things in Europe started going downhill. The Ermächtigungsgesetz [Enabling Act of 1933] was approved by the German government, giving Hitler dictatorship of Germany, and unlimited power over the government.

Hitler then created the Geheime Staatspolizei [Secret State Police] who were basically Hitler's dogs. Nicknamed the Gestapo, they were established to maintain "order" throughout the country, though they _obviously_ didn't stay true to that. Nazi Book Burning had begun that year. German students marched through town, burning tons of "un-German" books. They claimed to be trying to säuberung [cleanse] the town of "Un-German Spirit", whatever that shit meant ... Many books were lost that night; I wished I could has been able to read those before them went up in flames.

Remember the spy? Well, it turns out he helped Albert Einstein get out of Nazi Germany when he learned that the Nazis wouldn't allow Jews to hold _any_ government position. Soon after, Germany left the League of Nations and signed a ten year Non-Aggression Pact with Poland. Then, Nacht der langen Messer [The Night of the Long Knives] came. Codenamed Röhm-Putsch [Operation Hummingbird], political murders aimed at those who would politically oppose the Nazi party were carried out throughout Germany and beyond; Schleicher was one of them. It was at this point that the spy really wanted to get out of Germany. Death was everywhere in Germany that night.

Later that year, Hitler had become Führer of Germany, making him both the German Chancellor _and_ the Head of State. The next year, Iggy and Germany agreed to regulate the size of their navies through the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA). After that, Germany just _had_ to go and violate the Treaty of Versailles by militarizing Rhineland.

Then, Germany went and helped the Nationalist faction led by Francisco Franco y Bahamonde during the Spanish Civil War. Due to the war, Spain went and locked himself up in his house. Not even Romano could get access to Spain, and they been with each other the longest.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The Axis Powers were formed; Germany, Italy, and Japan called it the Achsenmächte, Potenze dell'Asse, or 枢軸国, respectively. I honestly didn't know _what_ Kiku-kun was thinking when he agreed to this alliance, but he and Germany signed the Anti-Comnitern Pact that was directed against the communist movement and the USSR, aka the Soviet Union. Then, the paramilitary Nazi group, Hitlerjugend [Hitler Youth], expanded its membership and made it mandatory for young men between the ages of ten to eighteen to join. That's _too_ young in _my_ opinion. Forcing innocent kids to become military soldiers was cruel on Germany's part!

Things started heading toward war after that. Germany annexed Austria, then Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland borders, then Czechoslovakia herself. Iggy and François were being complete idiots when they signed the Munich Agreement with Italy and Germany. You don't just _give_ land to a power-hungry dictator! That just makes you looks weak! I pretty much face-palmed right then and there when the news reached America. I had no idea what my former caretakers were thinking; there was no way to appease Germany and Hitler anymore.

The spy had gotten out of Germany first thing when Austria was annexed. There wasn't any point to stay there any longer. We didn't want to lose another man, so we quickly extracted him from Nazi Germany.

Hitler planned to improve his navy fleet in order to beat the British Royal Navy with a five-year project called Plan Z. Just recently, Germany's boss performed a speech in front of the Reichstag [German Parliament] where he renounced the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact.

War in Europe was pretty much inevitable at that point. It didn't matter that Iggy warned Germany that Britain would fight any attempt on world domination. Therefore, François and Iggy could only try to guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state. When I heard about how _that_ meeting went (with all the ponies and pink houses from Poland), I just shook my head with nonchalance. Poland has always been that way.

While Germany was planning totally evil world domination, the Baltics, Poland, Romania, Persia, and the Soviet Union signed the Litvinov Protocol in Moscow. In principle, it was similar to the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

Fascist Italy, lead by Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, ratified the Lateran Treaty that made Vatican City a sovereign state. Italy had already invaded Ethiopia and annexed her by then. Italy then invaded Albania, eventually annexing him as well.

On the other side of the Pacific, the mess with Manchuria happened, and Kiku-kun left the League of Nations. Kiku-kun later renounced both the agreements made at the Washington Naval Conference and the London Naval Treaties that he had agreed upon. After Japan joined the Axis Powers, he fought against China in the 七七盧溝橋事變, also known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, starting the Second Sino-Japanese War.

* * *

It was now late June, and things in Europe were intense. As the events to Hitler's rise in power occurred, my citizens took an increasingly hard line towards getting involved in overseas affairs. After the Great War, my citizens were even more reluctant to get involved than ever before. I had already tried to stay neutral in the Great War, but that didn't work out so well. I still have nightmares and scars about the it; it was _not_ a pleasant experience.

Due to the costly involvement in the Great War, my citizens wanted to stay isolated, so Mr. President had agreed to pass the Neutrality Acts in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia. Isolationism and non-interventionism had grown popular in my country, and the Congress sought to ensure that America would not be ensnared by foreign conflicts.

Mr. President and his Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, disagreed with the Neutrality Acts because they thought it would limit the administration's options to support any allies. Even though Mr. President did not want to pass the bills, his re-election campaign was coming up. If he had snubbed the South and angered the public opinion, he wouldn't be my boss right now. So, in the end, the bills got passed.

I, personally, was against these acts as well. I wanted to help Iggy, François, and Yào who all seemed to be having trouble maintaining peace between us nations. But with the Neutrality Acts in place, Mr. President and I could only get the Congress to allow the sale of arms on a 'cash and carry' basis. I pretty much had to sit and watch as the hands of death gripped Europe and Asia.

When I had visited the colorful tree on the hill those years ago and saw the small, black flower on the ground, I was immediately filled with dread. Now, I realize the reason why. With already so many deaths in the world, from political leaders to innocent civilians, no wonder a black flower had bloomed on the tree! I've only ever seen black flowers bloom when disasters, such as wars and mass genocide, were destined to happen. Black flowers were, and never are, a good thing.

I was resting in the Green Room of the White House, enjoying the view outside and the gentle rays of sunlight pouring through the window. Ever since Mr. President had taken office, my health had finally come back around. I still had problems with working for long lengths of time, but the fact that I could come back to work in the White House was miracle enough. I was practically dead to the world when Mr. Hoover left office!

Mr. President always valued my opinion on the state of my country, considering I was the country itself. He had even added me into his Brain Trust, an academic team of advisors to my boss that discussed methods on how to improve the government and economy of America. Many of the Brain Trust advisors respected my opinions of things, and even though they were ridiculed for being impractical idealists, they really helped shape the policies of the New Deal.

Toni, Clara, and the others were back at home relaxing on this peaceful day. I couldn't exactly bring them to work with me ... save Toni. The only reason why I _could_ bring Toni was because Mr. President had met him before. Hero had caused too much of mess in the kitchen last time he came here, and Amelia's too shy to be around all these people. Clara's technically invisible, and Wilbur wasn't able to fit his pool through the door. Because of these reasons, everyone just preferred to stay at home.

Nothing too emotionally painful had happened during these past seven years. In fact, things seemed to be improving! After Mattie caught even the slightest wind of how I had fallen into a coma, he became immensely worried about my health even though he had his own problems to deal with. I never found out _how_ he knew I had fallen into a coma, but I was glad he only told big bro Diego and big brother James. Mattie had started contacting me more and more, and we've had fewer arguments about the economy, and more bonding time as siblings. Big bro Diego had been less harsh on me when he found out, and had scolded me less and less. He still called me and idiota [idiot] for hiding my coma from familia [family]. Still, for once, we had a decent conversation about how Cuba and the nations of South America were doing. He's starting to include me in conversations with Mattie when we go out to eat, but overcoming years of ignoring me is still a difficult wall to scale.

What had really touched me the most though was the gift big brother James sent. I came home one day with a small box sitting on the front porch. When I opened it, a small note and a Iháŋbla Gmunka [dream catcher] were inside. Picking up the note, I had opened it. On it, a 'Please get better soon' was written in beautifully elegant letters that I have always known as big brother James's handwriting. His handwriting flowed on the paper, and his signature was just below that. I pretty much sobbed my heart out upon seeing the letter. He always seemed to hate me so much. I picked up the Iháŋbla Gmunka, instantly realizing this was hand-made by him. Big brother James always had a habit of tying bowline knots. Plus, the fact that the feathers on the gift smelled of forest and smoked deer told me that he spent hours in the forest searching for the perfect feathers, and nights by the campfire weaving the string. I truly treasured it; it had been a long time since I got a gift from big brother James.

I've only had one vision overcome me during those years, and it was about the ending of the Coming-of-Age ceremony. Looking up at the sky, I recalled the events of the vision.

* * *

**_The big brother snapped his head toward the crowd, hearing the young boy call his name. Atsá quickly looked back up toward the sky. His best friend was block out the sun, causing a dark shadow to fall upon the best friend's face. _**

**_Gripping the spear gifted by his mother, he twisted on the ground, using his back as support, and kicked his legs up toward the sky. Pushing up with his arms, he aimed his legs for the midsection of his friend. Unable to dodge the sudden attack, the best friend braced himself for the kick, blocking most of the force with his arms. The best friend landed on his feet, a couple of buffalo_****_ away. Tearing out the knife from the ground, Atsá took the knife and threw it at his best friend. Much more skilled in the usage of knives, the best friend caught the handle mid-flight and twisted it around in his hand, ready for another round._**

**_Atsá crouched down and propelled himself forward, gliding through the air. He aimed for his best friend's arm, trying to disable one of the knives. His friend dodged, retaliating with a swipe of his own, which was aimed at Atsá's waist. Twisting the spear handle, he narrowly managed to block the strike and twist the knife out of his friend's hand. _**

**_However, his friend was too fast. The moment his friend lost his knife, he crouched down, only to jump back up and nail a back-flip over Atsá. He grabbed his knife as he came back down on the other side of Atsá. His friend started to furiously swipe at Atsá, using fierce but nimble strikes aimed at non-lethal parts of the body. Atsá dodged all of the strikes, sending spear attacks of his own at his friend. _**

**_They exchanged attacks for a few dah alzhin before breaking apart to catch their breath. Maybe it was because Atsá was too tired, or maybe because too much dił was rushing to his head, but when his best friend spoke, he could not hear the words. Everything seemed to be muted, but he would at least show that he had acknowledged that his friend said something. Giving a brief nod, Atsá forced himself to calm down a bit. _**

**_Neither Atsá nor his best friend could keep dodging much longer without permanently hurting the other. They were trained to fight fiercely and efficiently, aiming for areas that would kill the other quickly. They were used to aiming for the 'ajéíd_****í**shjool, the 'atsii', and the 'ajáád. Determined to finish the spar, Atsá mustered all of the strength he could down to his leg. Atsá lifted his leg, stomping the floor, resulting in a tremble that caused his friend to stumble slightly.

**_That slight break in movement was all Atsá needed. Taking the opportunity from his unforeseen attack, Atsá quickly kicked his friend in the torso. Needing both his hands, Atsá spun his spear around his neck and quickly grabbed his friend's knives, wrenching them from his hands. He then quickly threw the knives with precision towards his friend's animal hides, pinning the friend to the ground. Never once dropping his spear, Atsá grabbed his spear and jabbed it at his friend's neck, stopping a hummingbird's length away. _**

**_The Chief stepped forward, announcing that Atsá was the victor. Cheers and congratulations filled the air, mixing with sounds of joy. Shouts of a good fight drifted over to the two young men who were still panting from the spar. The young boy was glad his big brother had won and that neither opponent had gotten hurt from the spar. The mother_****_ looked on with happiness and pride at her son_****_, always knowing that Atsá would _****never****_ hurt a friend_****_. Helping his best friend up, Atsá returned his knives to his fellow brother._**

**"Next time, you know, I'll get better béésh, and kick your 'atł'aa'!" ****_he vowed, smiling toward Atsá._**

**_Atsá merely laughed, enjoying the spar they had immensely. _****"Of course, bitsil****í**! But do not expect it to be such any easy fight, Hai," **_Atsá replied cheekly._**

**"I would not have it any other way!" Hai replied.**

* * *

I was in the office when that particular vision happened. When I had spaced out, Mr. President tried snapping me out of it with little success. When I broke the trance, he asked if anything was wrong, to which I merely replied that it did not relate to my country. He dropped the subject immediately, getting the hint that I really did not want to talk about it.

I had finally figured out the name of the big brother - Shį́ Wódah Atsá. Although I still couldn't identify what language the people in my visions were talking in, I felt I was getting closer to figuring out why I had these visions and why they always felt so important to me.

_'Maybe I should tell Mattie about these dreams. He's always been there to help me, and one of the infants of the mother looked like him ... but the baby was always sleeping. So, maybe, Mattie won't be able to help much. Plus, I feel these visions are only important to _me_,'_ I pondered.

I looked back at the clock in the room and noticed that a considerable time had passed. Usually, if I was in perfect health, one of the workers would have come to remind me that my break was over. But for these past years, they have been lenient on my work schedule, and more observant of my health. There are times when I still sway a bit on my feet, and any worker nearby would immediately ask if I was all right or not, and if I needed help getting to Mr. President's office. Usually I would just wave them off, cheerfully thanking them for their concern, and be on my merry way. I'm glad I have citizens that care about me so.

Getting up, I started heading for the Oval Office where Mr. President was probably waiting for me and talking with several advisors. The next few years ahead of me were probably going to be tough, with all the conflicts in Europe and Asia appearing one after another. I mentally braced myself for what would probably be another long period of pain from enemies, and support from allies I could trust. Who knew what would happen these next few years.

At least I _always_ know that I have my country and my citizens supporting me every step of the way.

**Welcome to the start of the World War II Arc ...**

**Operation Allied Forces commence ... ✈**

* * *

**This is the end of Chapter Four! I'll finally be dealing with the true events of WWII next Chapter! Thank you to all my readers for waiting this long for this new Chapter.**

**My review counter must be trolling me. 22 reviews has got to be my imagination ... *mumble mumble mywritingisnotthatgreat mumble mumble* ... Thank you all for your support! **

***Bows toward readers***

******Update: Chapters One to Three have now been Beta-ed. Please enjoy the corrected grammar and mistakes and such! Thank you Itaneko-chan for your wonderful work!**

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and/or remark on any mistakes I made ... Anything would be much appreciated!**

**- Kenna Cat**


	6. Chapter Five: Germany's Comical Days

**I'm sorry to all my readers for this late update. I was quite tired from yesterday, and there was much research to be done for World War II. ****Thank you all for being patient with me!**

**This is another long chapter with 4,200+ words. Please enjoy!**

**Thank you TheObsessedWriter, Starfire67, 11pink45, XxXMika-ChanXxX, narusasuforever1, silvertwilightgemini, Ms. AJ Ninja, Panda97, Canadian Hero, and Serisa Black for your reviews! They really help me motivate myself to write more. **

**This is the un-Beta-ed version. I will upload the Beta version as soon as possible. Expect revisions to this and previous chapters. I re-read my writing and make many corrections. Sorry for the inconvenience. The corrections should not be major changes.**

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta!**

**Warning: This chapter will contain foreign words not in English. There are also refences to Himaruya Hidekaz's actual web comics. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers. All comics belong to Himaruya Hidekaz.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Flashback Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + double quotes**

_**Flashback Narration - bold + italics**_

Narration – Nothing

[Translations] - Brackets

* * *

**_Chapter Five: Germany's Comical Days_**

September 30, 19XX

- Germany's Point of View -

_Meanwhile in Germany ..._

Guten Tag [Good day]. I am the representation of Bundesrepublik Deutschland [The Federal Republic of Germany]. My name is Ludwig Beilschmidt, younger brother to the Königreich Preußen [The Kingdom of Prussia]. Although I do not know my true last name, I have adopted my older brother's last name. However, when I informed him of such, he had a pained expression on his face, but had told me he was happy.

The Königreich Preußen [The Kingdom of Prussia], often just shortened to just Prussia, is my older brother. His name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, and he always refers to me as "West". He often proclaims he is ehrfurcht gebietend [awesome], to which I often find irritating. However, he is my older brother and drinking buddy; therefore, he is family and one who I will protect at all costs. He's slightly shorter than me, at 177 cm, and has short, shaggy platinum white hair, a pale complexion, and red eyes with a violet hue. Despite his arrogance and 'world-sized' ego, he is a good brother and a hard worker. Despite our clashing personalities, we surprisingly have similar habits, but I'm glad I did not turn out to be exactly like him. One Prussia in the world is already more than enough. At least my relationship with him is better than those between England and his brothers. The Balkenkreuz [Iron Cross] necklace he gave me years ago has been one of my few treasures that I keep with me at all times.

* * *

While America was in isolation, the Axis Powers had just been formed and Europe prepared for war. A certain blue-eyed, blonde German planned his revenge on a certain perverted and flashy French man.

Germany had finally had a successful leader after the repercussions of the Great War and the downfall of the world economy initiated by that dummkopf [blockhead] America. France, the Schwein [pig], laid all of the responsibility for the Great War on Germany and his allies, which came out to be 132 billion Marks! Not only that, the Schwein would go and occupy Ruhrgebiet [Ruhr] while I tried to pay off the debt.

Things had gotten better since then, as my new boss came into power. He reformed the government and motivated my people whose morale had already sunk depressingly low. After he gained power, alliances were made and preparations for war began. My boss was correct in his philosophy. Germans were a superior race, and such, were meant to rule the rest of the inferior world. I couldn't wait to finally begin world conquest.

Finally, on the first of September, Herr [Sir] Hitler had started his attack at 4:45 in the morning. My Air Force, the Luftwaffe, started attacking the Polish cities Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw. Within five minutes at the start of the attack, Kriegsmarine, my Navy, ordered good-old Battleship _Schleswig-Holstein_ to open fire on the Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig on the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, we were not able to capture the area, but we persevered until we captured it.

I wanted to hinder Poland's mobilization of his troops, so I ordered my men to bomb the bridges and roads. We aimed at groups of marching soldiers and civilians with machine guns attached to the planes. We shot at civilians as well to cause chaos and confusion that would further impede the Polish army. Even though Poland wasn't' completely defenseless, none of his army was armored, and the air force was almost completely demolished. None of Poland's cavalry could stand against my tanks. Nothing would stand in the way of German conquest!

_'I've also developed a nice relation with the Asian power, Japan, lately. Germany's future is as good as secured. At this rate, the day that France's beard will fall out is near!'_ I mentally shouted.

When I invaded Poland, I had at least expected _something_ to happen. Well, something did happen, but just not the way I would have expected. Somehow the whole experience reminded me of when I met Feliciano for the first time. I have never been able to get the 'Tomaten [tomato] fairy' excuse he made out of my head since that day.

I didn't meet Poland, that verrückt ross [crazy dolt], until I had pretty much conquered all of his lands. I had been completely prepared to battle with Poland, invading with an effective überrumpelung [surprise attack] that my people called Blitzkrieg [lightning war].

I was marching toward Mokra, Poland. The Wehrmacht Heer [German Defense Force Army] had gotten across the borders of Poland with relative ease. The überrumpelung [surprise attack] had been efficient and effective, leaving the Poland forces in chaos and confusion. As I was approaching the town, I heard a rustle in the bushes next to the town. Poland rolled out, slightly covered in leaves.

From what I heard, Poland was always selfish and loud. However, when I accidently stumbled upon his, he was very shy and became very flustered. He regained his composure a few minutes later though.

"Like, what are you totally doing here?" he asked in his somewhat girl-like voice.

"Poland, surrender and become part of Germany or face the death of your civilians!" I responded to his question.

"Hey hey, don't you think, like, pink uniforms would look _totally_ great on everyone? I totally ordered, like, thousands for my soldiers!" he cheerfully asked.

Seeing no connection between surrender and pink uniforms, I stuttered out, "W-what?! I'm conquering you! Surrender or face death!"

"Tanks are _so_ unfashionable, y'know! You look totally _ugly_ with them, and they never make then in pink with colorful flowers designs. It's just so not fair~!"

I was starting to lose my calmness. "What do my tanks have to do anything with this?! And did you just call me ugly?!" I replied.

"Well, duh, you look totally u-g-l-y. You need to slim down, girl."

I snapped. I was definitely no girl, nor would I dare stand to be insulted like this! "I AM NOT A GIRL!" I yelled.

His face adopted a serious look, but I was too angry to notice. "Hey, do you like ponies?" he asked.

"WHAT?!"

"You should totally see me pony! You'll totally love her!" he cheerfully replied with his face pulling into a grin. However, it was completely forced and faked, but I had stopped staring at him and closed my eyes.

I really needed to regain my composure. I paused and took several deep breaths. "What are you talking about? I do not see the need for such inefficient ponies in war. I am getting off topic. Do you surrender, Poland?" I demanded once again.

Poland had his back to me by then, waving at something in the distance. When I finally got a clear view of what was approaching us, it was a tan brown horse with a light brown line of fur running down its face. After whispering to it, Poland patted its back as it came toward me.

Slightly stumbling back as it approached, I was cautious of what it would do. All it did though was blink at me and shake its head, neighing strangely at me. I nuzzled me, blocking my view from Poland. It turned out that was a mistake. Poland had come and stabbed me with his sword while I was distracted.

Coming close to my ear, he whispered, "You, like, should _never_ have come here. Get out of my land. Poland will totally not surrender to you, _ever_."

Withdrawing the blade, Poland quickly got on his horse and rode back to the town. Polish soldiers battled against my panzer division, but somehow the Polish army was able to push my men back. Not only that, I was still bleeding profusely on the ground. My soldiers had quickly picked me of the ground and ordered a retreat. Mokra would see another day.

That was probably my most humiliating defeat ever.

* * *

Things progressively produced more bauchschmerzen [stomachaches] for me. Maybe I'll retell you those events later, when I can stop thinking about my humiliating defeat at Mokra by the hands of the Polish army.

Currently I was with Feliciano strolling through my Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude [Plenary Area Reichstag Building]. I was wearing a simple dirty-brown buttoned-coat over my light blue Charvet shirt. Beside me, Feliciano was simply wearing a light gray Charvet shirt as well. Somehow our conversation had turned from Feliciano complaining about how dura [harsh] the training was to delizioso cibo [delicious food], and then to how disgustoso [disgusting] Britain's food was. On that point, I would have to agree with Feliciano; Great Britain's food was absolutely horrid beyond compare.

_'How in the world is that dummkopf [blackhead] America still _alive_? Also, somebody tell me why this guy is so _weak_... please,'_ I thought as I was listening to Feliciano's ramblings.

"I ate this completely disgustoso [disgusting] pizza once. Britain made it, y'know," Feliciano chatted. Noticing a group of people listening to a lecturer, he called me over. "Look, Germany! Something's going on over there~~."

I was still trying to figure out why he was so weak._ 'The blood of the Roman Empire flows through his veins, so he couldn't have been so bad at first...'_ I pondered. I turned my attention toward the professor at front. Behind the professor, a board stood with some words such as 'why' and 'Italy'. I couldn't entirely read it since the professor was blocking it.

"As tomatoes have been found to have an effect of reducing one's will to fight ... research has suggested that prolonged exposure to the substance in question will make a person **useless** ..." he lectured.

That ... made a lot of sense. I heard Feliciano speak beside me, laughing all the while. "Wow~~~. That grandpa sure says some stupid things!" Feliciano commented. Coming from the guy who really is useless, I couldn't help but believe the professor more than the pasta-loving idiot.

I took out a notebook from my coat and jotted the information down. I didn't want to seem rude by not replying to Feliciano, so I simply muttered an "I see" in response. Somehow, Feliciano had managed to find a pizza slice to eat. How he got it I will never understand, so all I did was shake my head in frustration.

Turning back to my notebook, I also jotted down that I would need to have a _very_ stern talk with Spain, regardless of his bi-polarity and his insistence to lock himself up. He had much too explain for.

Completely unknown to Germany, Italy was not completely weak. Many years of waving around white flags actually built up his arms strength. Not only that, he learned to fight with a staff (so long as a white cloth was attached to it), and was relatively decent.

It wasn't that he was completely defenseless during World War II. Italy valued peace, gourmet food, art, family, and singing instead. Also, although his country was considered a great power, the Italian industrial sector was relatively weak compared to other major European nations. Italy was still a predominately agriculture-based economy. Feliciano did not have the resources to produce suitable quantities of armaments and supplies required for war; therefore, much of the resources needed could only be fulfilled by importing them into Italy. Due to the lack of resources, Italian industry did not equal to more than fifteen percent to that of France's or England's military production. Furthermore, due to complaints from his brother Romano, Feliciano had sent the Corpo Truppe Volontarie [Corps of Volunteer Troops] as well as a large number of weapons and supplies to Spain to help in the Civil War. That action had put a considerable dent in military preparations for the upcoming war. Add on top of that outdated technology, lack of consistent planning from his boss, confusion among his citizens, and a debt carried over from the Great War, could you really blame Feliciano for being weak at the time World War II started?

At least Feliciano, aided by Romano, had produced a few good guns and relatively decent cars. Since both Italian brothers worked on the design, the Italy brothers produced effective, self-propelled guns.

* * *

- America's Point of View -

_America's House: Balcony ..._

It's been three months since I heard the news my spy brought in. Recently, all the news has become public. It's probably because another huge war had started up in Europe and in Asia. Apparently my people have started calling the war 'World War II', but I've also heard it been called the 'European War'.

Before war officially started, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, shortened to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on August 23, 19XX. This seemed to relieve some of the tensions between the European nations, but it didn't end there.

Germany had invaded Poland first thing when September hit, initiating the war and increasing tensions all over again. Uncle Finland, Norway, the Baltics, and Switzerland declared neutrality that day. Iggy mobilized Her Majesty's Armed Forces (aka the British Armed Forces) and started planning out evacuation routes to prepare for German air attacks. The next day, Iggy and Papa François issued a joint ultimatum demanding that Germany pull out his troops from Poland while Italy's boss declared neutrality. Uncle Ireland, England's older brother and officially called the Poblacht na hÉireann [The Republic of Ireland], also declared neutrality that day. Switzerland, on the other hand, began mobilizing his forces as well. Iggy and the Parliament of the United Kingdom immediately enacted the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, 19XX that enforced full conscription on all male residents between the age of 18 and 41 in the United Kingdom. By then, Germany had annexed the Wolne Miasto Gdańsk [The Free City of Danzig].

Since Iggy and Papa François guaranteed the integrity of Poland's borders, regardless of how the meeting went, they declared war against Germany two days later. Consequently, Australia, India, and New Zealand declared war on Germany as well. Within hours, the SS _Athenia_ was torpedoed by the German submarine _U-30_. This initiated the "Battle of the Atlantic" with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Royal Navy (RN) pitied against the German Kriegsmarine [War Navy] and the Luftwaffe [Air Force]. Initially though, Canada didn't join declare war until September 10th, so it was just Iggy at the beginning. I really hoped Mattie stayed safe whenever he goes out to battle. We both have a bad habit of going out to the front lines and battling with our citizens, and often enough, both of us would get severely hurt at one point of another.

On that day, I was lucky to be able to talk to Albert Einstein. He was such a brilliant genius, and saw through my childish act immediately. He was so _cool_! However, the news he brought with him made me sick to my stomach. Germany had begun rounding up Jews and minority races, sending them to places called Konzentrationslager [concentration camps], and systematically killing them in an operation that Hitler termed as Die Endlösung der Judenfrage [ The Final Solution of the Jewish Question]. How Germany could do such a thing I'll never understand.

This information would also explain what was going on with the special tree on the cliff near my house. I don't exactly remember how I knew so much about the tree, but it was _definitely_ no ordinary plant. The tree is called the Pangæa tree. You know when all the continents used to be one huge-ass landmass? Well, the continent was named Pangæa. Existing since the time of Pangæa, this tree has various colors of flowers, each representing a country today. For example, my country is represented with Roses, while Russia's flowers are Chamomile.

Somehow, this tree is connected to the entire world. It's like the tree version of us nations. When a black flower appears though, it either means a lot of the country's citizens were dying or that the country was dying itself.

It turns out I was wrong about how the black flower was related to the Nacht der langen Messer [The Night of the Long Knives]. Instead, it seems to represent the mass genocide of the Jews happening in Germany. Either way, I do not like either event.

Three days after the invasion of Poland, Mr. President and I initiated the Neutrality Patrol. They were mobilized and ordered to track and report the movements of any warlike operations of belligerents in the waters of the western hemisphere. Iggy tried attacking Germany first by sending the Royal Air Force (RAF) and targeting the _Deutschland_-class heavy cruiser _Admiral Scheer _in the Helgoländer Bucht [Heligoland Bight] bay. Apparently, all the bombs failed to explode except for to which hit the water, and the German pocket battleship came out unscathed. I had to listen to an extremely drunk England on the phone rant about 'bloody German gits' and 'moronic bombs' for hours after that whole fiasco.

Kiku-kun declared neutrality on the European situation, and Iggy began a naval blockade on Germany. The Dominion of Newfoundland later declared war on Germany the same day.

Four days after the war started, I officially declared my neutrality in the war. Unfortunately for South Africa though, he was unable to get enough support for neutrality. The next day, South Africa had a new boss that declared war on Germany.

Iggy had an accident with the Battle of Barking Creek where a friendly fire incident killed on of his RAF fighter pilots. After the whole incident, he swore to make his planes easily identifiable between allies and get better communication systems into his planes to avoid the whole fiasco from repeating. That day, Germany captured Kraków in the south of Poland, and the Polish army had to retreat from the Wehrmacht Heer [German Defense Force Army].

On September 7th, Papa François started his attack called the Saar Offensive, moving into German territory near Saarbrücken, Germany. They were later stalled at heavily mined Warndt Forest after advancing eight miles in. On the 12th, France's general stopped the French advance into Germany and completed their retreat on the 17th. Papa François was pretty sad about that for a bit, saying that he felt a bit useless. Mattie went to cheer him up upon hear that. I had sent a rapier to Papa François to try to motivate him, to which he thanked me for. Recently though, Papa François retreated to the Ligne Maginot [Maginot Line] to prepare for a German invasion. This was all because guns on the Siegfriedstellung [Siegfried Line] just had to attack villages behind the Ligne Maginot [Maginot Line]. I hope Papa François makes it out all right.

Iggy passed the National Registration Act 19XX on the 7th which introduced identity tags and allowed his government to control labour. The next day, he set a full-scale blockade on German shipping.

While this was going on, India was having trouble with his government and had to postpone the plans for the Federation of India laid out by the Government of India Act, 19XX.

Poland was in rough shape, and Toris wrote letters to me about how he was concerned about the health of his eccentric friend. They've known each other since they were young, and even though they had issue at times, Toris still wanted Feliks (Poland) to be safe. Feliks tried holding out at the Romanian border until help arrived, but eventually he fell. Germany had complete encirclement of Warsaw on the 16th and Russia ('the bastard') invaded Poland from the East and occupied territory east of the Curzon line, Białystok, and Eastern Galicia. Feliks's boss Ignacy Mościcki and his Commander-in-Chief Edward Rydz-Śmigły abandoned him and escaped to Romania. Late September, most of the Polish government had escaped into Romania in exile. By the end of the month, Feliks surrender. Turns out, Russia and Germany had _agreed_ to invade Poland and split the land between them in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact back in August and made it official with the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty (it also added Toris into Russia's sphere of interest).

Russia not only got Poland, he questioned Estonia's neutrality along with Germany and blockaded the harbor of Tallinn, Estonia's capital. Later in the month, Russia's Air Force violated Estonia's airspace, forcing Estonia to negotiate with Russia's boss Вячесла́в Миха́йлович Мо́лотов [Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov] in Moscow about the incident. Basically, Estonia was threatened and forced to let in Soviet military. On the 28th, Soviet Union troops massed by the Latvian border and violated Latvian air space. Then, Russia signed a ten-year Mutual Assistance Pact with Estonia that allowed Russia to have military bases in Estonia. In return, Russia promised to respect Estonian independence. I wouldn't trust his word for the moment due the way he negotiated with Poland to split Feliks's land. You just don't split land with the world's enemy, you know.

Things for Iggy weren't going great either. Germany had been sinking a lot of his boats over the month, with the most recent British sunk being sunk today. The aircraft carrier HMS _Courageous_ was sunk by _U-29_. Then German submarine _U-27_ sunk the British destroyers HMS _Fortune_ and HMS _Forester_ with depth charges on the 20th. Finally, The German pocket-battleship _Admiral Graf Spee_ sunk the merchant ship _Clement_ off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil.

On Kiku-kun's side, Kiku-kun lost the бои на реке Халхин-Гол [Battle of Khalkhin Gol] against Mongolia and the Soviet Union, ending the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars on September 19th. Afterwards, Japan and his大日本帝國陸軍 [Imperial Japanese Army (IJA)] attacked China in the city of 長沙 [Cháng Shā], starting the Battle of Cháng Shā. Then, Japans did something I hoped I would never see again: the大日本帝國陸軍 [IJA] had used poison gas against the China's國民革命軍 [National Revolutionary Army (NRA)] and pushed the battle further south to the 汨羅江 [Mì Luó Jiāng (Mì Luó River)]. Recently, Kiku-kun reached the outskirts of長沙 [Cháng Shā], but thankfully China and the國民革命軍 [NRA] were able to cut Japan's supply line and prevent them from conquering the town.

Some other events happened too. The Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated by the Iron Guard, an ultra-nationalistic group in Romania. The German home front had begun food rationing, and launched a major infantry assault on Warsaw the next day. Two days later, the Polish army and militia in Warsaw were forced to surrender to the Germans.

I wanted desperately to help stop the war between us nation, to help Iggy and Papa François, Yào, Australia, and Mattie, but with my neutrality, I couldn't do anything! I gripped the balcony railing tighter, denting the metal bars. I felt so torn. I wanted to help my family and friends, but my citizens were also making me feel reluctant to go help. I just didn't know what to do! This past September had been so hectic with all the information we were getting from the Neutrality Patrol that my mind couldn't handle it all due to my decreased health.

The only thing that kept me sane was the letters I got from Gilbert, of all people. Mattie was too busy with the war, and big bro Diego was trying to keep up with Canada to make sure Mattie wasn't hurt. Big bro Diego was just too busy at the moment, but he was still able to write brief letters asking if I was getting better.

Anyway, Prussia and I went way back, all the way to the Revolution where he put me through his harsh training from hell. I never liked it, but I couldn't deny that it made me stronger. We always wrote letters to each, talking about our conquests/accomplishments and the overall awesomeness that we radiated. After the war started though, I had expected to receive no word from Gil. Turns out, he was trying to contact me the whole time, but just couldn't send the letter through on risk of being called a traitor. We worked out the kinks by letting Liberty, my messenger eagle, send letters between us since Gilbird couldn't make the trip. He's been keeping me up-to-date on what's going on in Germany. He mostly talked about his concern for his brother.

Gil was pretty mad when Germany's boss ordered a bomb attack on Königsberg, specifically the Otto-Braun House. He was shocked to hear that Germany had been killing many of his political leaders behind his back and banning his newspaper from publishing. He proclaimed that it was 'so not ehrfurcht gebietend [awesome]' that his brother was killing his people. Not only that, Gil was forced to change many of his cities' names to some other German or simplified Prussian names. Gil was supposed to be the one to order Germany around! Moreover, Germany began sending some of his political leaders and non-German citizens to the concentration camps. Although Germany gave Regierungsbezirk Zichenau as compensation and left Gil relatively alone, Gil was worried for his brother. He seemed to be turning into revenge-focused lunatic. Therefore, Gil went to investigate how his brother is doing. He still hasn't got back to me on that.

Family was fighting against family and friends against friends. I was afraid of the upcoming months. The world was literally tearing itself apart, and I was stuck in the middle of it all with a shield of neutrality that I could feel slowly breaking away.

What was the world coming to?

To be continued ...

* * *

**That's Chapter Five for you! Thank you to all my readers for waiting this long for this new Chapter...**

**I'm quite tired for today, so I will be taking a break for now. But I will still update tomorrow! So don't worry. **

**Heads up: Finals week will be in two weeks, but I have a research paper due by next Friday. Therefore, after Chapter six is finished, I will be focusing my attention on school. Updates will be either two to three days for the next two weeks. Gomenasai [I'm sorry].**

***Bows toward readers***

**Update: Chapters One to Four have now been Beta-ed. Please enjoy the corrected grammar and mistakes and such! Thank you Itaneko-chan for your wonderful work!**

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and/or remark on any mistakes I made ... Anything would be much appreciated!**

**- Kenna Cat**


	7. Chapter Six: Days with Italy? Oh Boy!

**Sorry for the wait! To all readers, updates will be every two to three days due to essays and finals coming up for the next two weeks. Please bear with me...**

**Also, school has been extra over-bearing these past few days, but you're not here for hearing about my problems. Let's get on with the story!**

**Thanks to Serisa Black, XxXMika-ChanXxX, Starfire67, Panda97, Emerald Eme-Pon Walker, silvertwilightgemini, and HappyCamper27 for the reviews! Also, if ****_you_****, the reader, want to hear a particular event going down in War World II history that I have not included, review and I'll make sure it goes in!**

**Also, apparently 'genial' in German means 'awesome'. I am not entirely sure if this is correct, so please correct me if I am mistaken. I will be using both the English and German definitions of 'genial'. The ones that do not have the translation brackets after them indicate that I am referring to the English definition. **

**This is the un-Beta-ed version. I will upload the Beta version as soon as possible. Expect revisions to this and previous chapters. I re-read my writing and make many corrections. Sorry for the inconvenience. The corrections should not be major changes.**

**Thanks to Itaneko-chan for being my Beta!**

**Warning: This chapter will contain foreign words not in English. There are also refences to Himaruya Hidekaz's actual web comics. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia - Axis Powers. All comics belong to Himaruya Hidekaz.**

* * *

"Dialogue" - double quotes

_'Thoughts' - italics + single quotes_

**"Flashback Dialogue/Phone Dialogue" - bold + double quotes**

**_Flashback Narration - bold + italics_**

Narration - Nothing

[Translations] - Brackets

* * *

**_Chapter Six: Days with Italy? Oh Boy …!_**

September 30, 19XX

- Prussia's Point of View –

While America was having his own internal conflicts across the Atlantic, and Germany was discovering the horrible side effects of tomatoes, one very _awesome_ Prussian was going through his little brother's desk.

I was totally investigating West's super un-awesome desk while he was out with Ita-chan at the Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude [Plenary Area Reichstag Building]. I had promised the almost-as-awesome-as-me Al-boy that I would figure out what the heck West was doing! He can't just send his boss to threaten my genial [awesome] boss just to change my cities' names and kill my people! That was so nicht genial [not awesome]! Plus, Liberty was sitting on the balcony waiting for another letter to bring back.

So, if all of you people out there are wondering why I am not in the library reading West's diary, it's because his library's locked. Also, if you're wondering who 'West' and 'Al-boy' are, here's a reference list for you. West refers to my precious little brother Germany, Al-boy equals America, and Birdie is Canada. Ita-chan and Brother Dearest are Feliciano and Lovino (South Italy/Romano) respectively. Japan's ... a special case since he's got all those honorifics; I'll either call him Japan-kun, Kiku-kun, or Kiku. I can't think of any others right, but I'll definitely get back to you later about them!

Okay, so we all know I _tried_ to clean other nicht genial [not awesome] countries' houses when I was bored ... Well, if you don't know, I went to my precious little brother's house, Sweden's, Austria's, Ita-chan's, Switzerland's, and Japan's house. You can read all about my adventures on 'おそうじプロイセンさん' [Cleaning Prussia-san]. I asked Al-boy to do me a favor and upload my adventures onto his 'computer' thing ... maybe it's some future thing; I'll have to get him to tell me how he got it ... Anyway, I wanted to show François and Antonio that I really did go try to clean people's houses. Though when I read West's diary, I didn't understand what 'EU' meant. Is it also another future thing?!

Therefore, here I am, searching through his desk to try and find the key to it! Opening a few drawers (_'He's still cleaning up everything by himself, huh... hope he doesn't overdo it'_), I quickly find the key and head over to the library.

On my way there, I pass by a photo, one that I thought I would never see again after I lost my copy in the some of the fires on my house when the unification of Germany became official. I stopped a bit, reminiscing on old times. The picture was of me and all of my little brothers, including West. He looked younger than he did now, and was not quite as tall. I was slightly bowing down, patting West's head as we gazed at the camera. Back then, we had thirty-three _different_ brothers, though a lot of them disappeared when they retired and gave responsibility over to West. I know a lot of them are just relaxing and enjoying life again, like Saxony, Bayern, and Hessen are.

All of us still get together at family reunion days. Usually one of my precious younger brothers would start feeling a bit lonely. So, as the genial [awesome] big brother, I would gather everyone up to have some genial [awesome] family bonding time. This usually happens a few times every year, that way none of us would lose contact with each other. I heard how Al-boy was doing with his brothers through his letters, and for a while, his situation seemed pretty bad. The genial [awesome] me has been trying to give genial advice on how to connect with his family, but it didn't seem to be working.

Al-boy and Birdie have always been special to me. They were what I considered family. Even if I could use the Kleindeutsche Lösung [Lesser Germany Solution] on them, I never would. They're too genial [awesome] for that. The moment they heard that my house had caught on fire due to the unification of Germany and the loss of my lands, they ceded part of their territory that has Prussians living in it to me to stop both the fires and my disappearance. That's why I still have most of my genial [awesome] house today! I've _nie_ [never] forgotten their kindness. I couldn't stand to see either of them hurt.

Therefore, I so did nicht ehrfürchtig [not awesomely] freak out when I didn't hear from Al-boy for year after the Great Depression (_'Okay ... so maybe I did a little ... but I did it ehrfürchtig [awesomely]!'_). Seems like he tried getting back to me first thing, because his handwriting (_'Which, I might add, is surprisingly neat and vornehm [elegant]; I guessed he practiced a lot since the Revolutionary times ... or maybe it was neat to begin with.'_) was really shaky. That letter was the only time I ever got any information about his year-long coma. He never mentioned it again, and whenever I asked about it, I would never get an answer.

So ... I might have tipped off to Birdie that Al-boy had gotten into a coma after the Great Depression. I needed to help Al-boy is _some_ way. I mean, seriously! It's totally nicht genial [not awesome] to just ignore your own brother to the point that you don't even know that he's gotten hurt in some way! I might not seem like it, but I value family deeply! A lot of European cultures do, like the Italy brothers, the Baltic Threesome, and the Nordics. Heck, even England and his brothers will help each other in times of need! You can't just ignore familie [family]. Nie [Never]. Nein fragen gestellt [No questions asked].

I was getting distracted. Clearing my head, I continued to walk toward the library, making a mental not to ask West for a copy of the picture. Opening the library, I closed the door behind me and locked it just in case. Turning around, I quickly scanned the room for West's diary. Ha! Bingo! Now, let's see here...

* * *

**Month May Day 5, 19XX**

My economy seems to have gotten better these past few years ... I can thank my new boss for that. He often says 'Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer' ['One People, One Nation, One Leader']. I find myself saying it recently. It has helped build the morale of my people.

It seems that after I subtly fired Feliciano by telling him it was vacation, he seemed to get a new boss as well. I don't know whether that is good or not ... further forschung [investigation] is needed.

However, it seems he is focused on Ethopia. His forces have occupied her capital, አዲስ አበባ [Addis Abäba]. I do not know what to make of it...

* * *

**Month May Day 7, 19XX**

Feliciano has annexed Ethiopia.

I continue to prepare for my revenge against France. Soon, I will declare war against the world. Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer [One People, One Nation, One Leader].

* * *

**Month July Day 18, 19XX**

Spain has gone into civil war. The nationalist forces are led by Francisco Franco y Bahamonde against the current republican government. My boss seems to be interested in the nationalist forces...

Feliciano's brother, Romano, has become concerned.

Things have been progressing nicely in Germany. I repeat a fellow reporter from earlier this day:

"The German army is so strong! With might strong enough to snap bamboo, they're off to beat up a certain beardy bastard! At this rate, it's only a matter of time until Paris gets roughed up!"

* * *

**Month October Day 25, 19XX**

I have received awful news ... I shall record the day's events here.

I was ecstatic due to the production rate of my country's industry. I had recovered from the Great Depression and was finally self-sufficient.

That day, I was wearing my usual green Waffen-SS [Armed SS] officers' uniform. As I was gloating on how I could defeat France, one of my men came over, looking quite disheveled. I soon found out why...

"Germany, this is bad! The situation is terrible! Italy has become you ally!"

Distressed, I immediately called Hungary, knowing that she knew Feliciano better than I did. The dial tone rang, and then a feminine voice answered the phone.

"Szia [Hello]?"

"Guten Tag [Hello], Hungary. This is Germany. I am calling about Italy."

"Why szia [hello], Germany-chan! What do you want to know about Italia-chan?" she replied cheerfully.

"Hungary, you've known him for a long time, right? Is there a way to shut him up?" I hurriedly asked.

"Why would you want to shut him up? Isn't he csinos [cute] and jókedv [fun]?" Hungary asked.

"No, it isn't fun."

"Oh? Really? Sajnálom [I'm sorry] ... Well then, all you have to do is take care of him, play with him, be friendly to him, never leave him alone, feed hi-"

"... Hey, look, I'm not that guy's babysitter," I insisted, cutting her off.

"Well, just try being his friend. It can't be all that bad, right?" she asked.

"... Sehr gut [Very well]. Auf Wiedersehen [Good-bye], Hungary. I will discuss this later with you," I relented.

"Búcsú [Good-bye], Germany-chan! And good luck!" she replied.

I hung up after that... and Italy arrived later that afternoon.

He came to my house wearing a blue World War II military uniform. Shouting excitedly, he said, "Germany, from now on we're comrades! I look forward to working with you! I just figured, you and me, together we'll be unstoppable! Don't you agree, Germany?"

Resigning to my fate, I asked, "Uh, so ... so you've finished your preparations, I'd surmise?"

"Prepare? Prepare what?" he replied.

"..."

This guy had prepared nothing! I quickly kicked him back to his house, hoping that he would stay there. Relaxing a bit, I turned away from the window. I couldn't deal with this right now...

"Germany~, I was thrown back here," the familiarly annoying voice called.

Turning back to the window, I yelled, "Stay away! What do you want?!" Feliciano had this ridiculous happy smile on his face, with a leaf on his head.

"I want to be your friend! Let's be allies! I've always been under other's control, so I've always wanted a friend! I feel like we can be friends! You'll help when I'm in trouble, and when you're in trouble I'll go help you!" he replied.

"Friend, huh…? I don't have any of those, so I don't really know…" I started uncertainly. Nonetheless, I was somewhat moved that he wanted to be friends and agreed. "I see... friends! Okay!"

"Yeah, friends!" he replied, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

Therefore, at Berlin in the Reichskanzlei [Reich Chancellery], Herr [Sir] Hitler signed the Stahlpakt [Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy] with Herr [Sir] Benito Mussolini. Originally, Japan was going to sign it as well, but there was a disagreement between our bosses.

For now, it seems the alliance with Japan will be postponed. The original name of the pact (The Pact of Blood) has been changed to the Pact of Steel since the name of the pact would likely be received poorly in Feliciano's country.

My days with Feliciano as my friend have started. Why do I have a bad feeling about this...

* * *

**Month November Day 4, 19XX**

I do not think Feliciano can fight is this war...

_Earlier Today:_

"Heeeey, Germany! I made some preparations to become your comrade!" he shouted.

"Hmph, it's already been ten days, but whatever. Go for it," I replied.

Opening his suitcase that he brought, he started pointing out objects that I find have no use on the battlefield. "First, here's some pasta and pasta, and ingredients and wine and pasta and fruit ... and then some pasta!" he pointed.

All the ingredients were sparkling, but I wasn't paying attention to that. I whacked him, yelling, "Wait a second. What kind of preparations are these!?"

"Oh, that's right. You want something we can use during battle, right? I brought one for you, too!"

"... One for me, too?"

"Yup! I didn't sleep yesterday because I spent the whole time making them!"

"So it's hand-made...?"

He took us to the field outside my house. Standing there were too while flags. One had 'Germany surrenders' on it while the other had 'Italy surrenders'.

"I made them myself, y'know!" he stated proudly.

"Why are you so ready to lose the war, pray tell?" I muttered while sitting down next to the flag. Next to me, Italy had sat down too.

"Even a girl could use these!" he tried showing off.

I am very tempted to just leave Italy tied up at his home and leave him there. While my soldiers will be surviving on boiled potatoes, it seems Italian soldiers will eat a full-course meal ... regardless of the situation. Italy is definitely not prepared for war.

The Stahlpakt [The Pact of Steel] that we signed ten days ago shows proof enough. I cannot wage war until four years later, in 19XX. Herr Hitler and I cannot wait that long...

* * *

**Month November Day 5, 19XX**

Italy really does seem defenseless...

Once again, Feliciano came to me with his apparently new preparations.

"Germany~, Germany~. Since you got mad at me last time, this time I brought a good one!" he called over, waving his arm again, just like the day before.

"Finally. I'll see if it's really good or not, so show it to me," I replied.

"Ah, okay! It's like this. Ta-daaaaaaaaah!" he stated, opening his suitcase, which had pizza this time on top of everything from before, like the wine and canned tomatoes.

"It's the same thing!" I yelled at him, "Do you really think you can fight with equipment like this?" Trying to make a point, I poked him in the nose.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you have anything that we can use in battle other than white flags?" I asked.

"All I have is Mr. Machilavelli," he replied, pulling him out of a suitcase.

Niccolo Machiavelli? Isn't he the author who wrote _The Prince_ and grieved over Italy's weakness, so he wrote his strategic theories down and published them? Weren't those strategic theories useless when they were put into practice in real combat?

"Sorry, but we can't use him," I quickly replied.

How is Feliciano ever going to get through this war?

* * *

**Month November Day 15, 19XX**

Herr [Sir] Hitler has given support to the Francisco Franco's forces. He has sent several hundred troops and the Legion Condor [Condor Legion], a unit composed of volunteers from the Luftwaffe [German Air Force] and the Wehrmacht Heer [German Defense Force Army], to help support Nationalist operations to capture Madrid, Spain.

Spain has locked himself up in his house. Italy's brother Lovino, whom I have still not met face to face, is deeply concerned since Spain and Romano have known each other for a long time.

According to Lovino, he can hear fighting noises inside Spain's house. This probably means that Spain has split into two, and is currently fighting against the other. I do not know who represents which side due to the lack of contact. No one has been able to get into Spain's house since the civil war started.

Feliciano, out of concern for both his brother and Spain, has sent troops to Spain as well. I do not know if this will be effective against the Spanish forces.

I hope I do not ever go through civil war.

* * *

**Month November Day 23, 19XX**

Feliciano requested to cook today. His pasta was not bad... but it seems I have upset him somehow.

_Earlier Today:_

"Germany~, Germany~. I'm gonna cook something to commemorate the beginning of our friendship, so can I use the kitchen?" he asked excitedly, pointing his hand toward the kitchen. He was wearing his black tie outside of his military uniform.

"I don't mind, but if you do, keep it clean. Be careful if you use flour or oil," I replied.

As he went to go cook, I couldn't stand still and do nothing. Even if Italy was very good at cooking, and should be relatively neat in his methods, I needed to make sure he didn't do anything wrong or mess up.

Taking a cloth with me, I entered the kitchen. While he was cooking, I started cleaning up a bit after him, a few things here and there. They were nothing too big, but things that could be easily missed.

About halfway during his cooking, he looked at me worriedly. "Oh, don't mind me," I replied casually. This was a common occurrence in my country. I always help Prussia clean while he is cooking and vice versa. However, he does say that his cleaning is much more ehrfurcht gebietend [awesome].

Feliciano looked very uncomfortable the rest of the time and during eating. He was unusually quiet, even when I praised him for the pasta. He left to go back home for a bit after that.

Did I do something wrong?

* * *

Prussia paused in his reading. It seemed that West was having trouble with Ita-chan, but this was three years ago.

_'Huh? The pages after this entry seemed to be marked differently. I wonder what that means. I'll have to continue reading and figure out what's wrong with West. Sorry, West...'_ I thought.

And so, Prussia continues his investigation of the past events of his precious little brother, West.

**To be continued...**

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**This is the end of Chapter Six! Hope you enjoyed it! It was 2,900+ words ... oh my ...**

**I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter. It was hard getting into the mind-set of Prussia and Germany. I hope they didn't sound too out of character...**

**Thank you all for your support! I don't think I deserve the praise ... and the review counter ****_can't_**** be that high ... something's wrong with the fan fiction website. **

***Bows toward readers***

**Read and Review. Tell me what you think and/or remark on any mistakes I made ... Anything would be much appreciated!**

**- Kenna Cat**


	8. AN: Author's Personal Issues

To all my readers,

I'm sorry for the delay. Personal family issues have come up for the past three weeks that have made me unavailable for the time being. I am currently working on Chapters Seven through Eleven, but am unable to focus on them until the personal issues have been dealt with. If all goes well, I will be back to continue the story in September. Sorry for the delay.

For those out there who have been following along with the story, I'm sorry once again. These personal family issues are currently very serious and I am required to be a part of them since it affects my family directly.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Kenna Kat


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